We checked out the drop-in program at the Milton Sports Centre on Thursday morning.  I'm not sure we'll be back.  It's a paid drop-in, so it cost me 10$ to go.  A small price to pay, I was thinking, to have the kids play in a new environment full of new toys, crafts and sing songs.

We were the only ones there and the front desk was surprised to see us when I went to pay.  After I paid, we went up to the room it was being held in and the room was locked.

Should have taken it as a sign I guess.

It turns out that there is only a teacher there on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays.  Tuesdays and Thursdays are a do it yourself kinda program.

We did have fun.  There were big blocks for them to play with, which we made into a magical train that turns into a bus....I sat on them and squished them, not sure they will ever return to their normal shape.

Live and learn, I guess.  Will have to try it again on a day when there is a teacher, and then we'll see if it's to be added to our usual rotation of "things to keep the kids occupied and me kind of sane".

I made this.  I was looking for a paper holder to get the kids craft paper off of the craft table but still within easy access.  I found one at staples, but it was 39$ and it was ugly clear plastic.

My dad came up with the idea for this one.  He had the old spice rack and took the bottom shelves off of it for me.  I painted it, and added the fabric sleeves.  Voila!  I love it!!

I wrecked our vacuum by trying to get the rice off the carpet that Hunter had spread around the house.  I bought a new vacuum which meant a new rocket/car for the boys.  They were thrilled with their new box until Hunter jumped on it and flattened it.  This resulted in a bitter fight between brothers.

On Saturday we went to Scribble n' Splatter with momstown for a Christmas craft session.  I wasn't sure how the boys would do here, but they LOVED it.  They were both engaged the entire time.  It was really fun.  We headed to Michael's (the craft store) afterwards to pick up some more craft stuff.  That was a bit of a gong show, as they were tired and a bit over-stimulated.  Hunter fell asleep on the way home.

While H was napping, Drew worked on painting his Christmas tree (which I had originally thought was going to be for me.  Silly me, OF COURSE it's a gift for Nana).

Once the tree was done, we moved on to some rocks.....of course

The boys are really into the wii these days....mario Kart is a big hit.  Especially for Hunter, which is funny, cause mostly he just watches Drew play.

After swimming lessons on Sunday (the last one, Drew passed preschool D and Hunter passed Parent and Tot 3 (ha ha) we went to Timmy's and then my plan was to hit the grocery store.  I drove into the parking lot and drove straight back out.  It was PACKED and the boys did not want to go in.

We went to the dollar store instead, where the boys each picked out a toy and I picked up some Christmas stuff.  Drew also got to get a pack of gum.  He has only recently started chewing gum.  This was a HUGE deal to get his own pack of gum.  It is the cutest thing I have ever seen.  He is so serious about the whole thing, it's adorable.  I imagine he feels very grown-up while chewing gum, which makes it super fun for him.

Anyways, this picture was taken because Drew wanted to "always remember" his first pack of gum.

After the excitement of chewing gum died down, Nana brought out the gingerbread cookies and all of the decorations for the boys to go to town.

Go to town they did.  Good lord you should have seen the mess.

They had SOOO much fun.

There was maybe 1 sprinkle left when we were done.

Yum!

Today (Monday) Drew went to school and Hunter and I hosted Monday playgroup.  Playgroup was great fun.  I was hoping that afterwards, Hunter would be tired and would nap easily.

As you can see from the photo below, his nap did not come without a fight.  The photo is blurry because he is jumping in his crib.

We hung out at Nana and Papa's again this evening and when we got home, the boys put water in their Christmas tree ice mold.  They are very excited to see what it will look like in the morning.

And that's that.  James is off for a couple of days, so hopefully I'll have some fun things to report in the coming days!

Where are all the jobs?

Supply teaching is awesome.  Except for the fact that you can't predict how much you will be working from week to week.  Last week, for example, I didn't work at all and this week I am only working on Friday.  They have just hired 200 new teachers to the supply list, which kind of makes me feel sick to my stomach....is it going to be like this for the rest of the year??  I certainly hope not.

On the bright side, not working gives me time with my family.  Here's a summary of the past 3 days....

Monday

We went to playgroup and celebrated Jaxon's 2nd birthday.  Hunter was thrilled that it was his turn to go to a birthday party.

Happy birthday, Jaxon!

The original plan Monday night was to head to Grimsby so that the boys could meet Luc and Erin's baby, Tyler.  We picked up Drew early from school and were in Burlington getting some errands done (trying to get a new phone from the apple store) when we found out that it wasn't going to work out (to go to Grimsby).  We headed back to Milton with two very disappointed boys.

East Side Mario's cheered them up.

Tuesday

The boys had gymnastics in the morning, followed by some playtime at home and some Christmas decorating.  The evening was spent at the pool.

Drew is a bit of a ham.

Wednesday

Drew was at school again today.  James took H to his class at the early years centre and I was at Pineview.  I spent the morning there helping parent council count the Poinsettia orders (our winter fundraiser).  After I was done, I met James and H at the EYC and then we went to ESM for lunch (we're a bit obsessed with that restaurant.

Hunter had a nap in the afternoon, Drew came home from school and then James took the boys to the Georgetown EYC for their "dad's connect" program.  I spent the evening at Walmart, buying a new vacuum and Home Depot picking up a few supplies for our craft/playroom.

And that's it.

Happy Wednesday!

Sunday busy Sunday

Today started off in the usual way.  Swimming lessons.  This week, Nana and Papa were MIA.  They were on a bus-trip to Niagara Falls for the day (to the casino, of course).

Because Nana and Papa were not with us, we changed things up after swimming and headed to McDonald's instead for our post-swimming snack.  It was still breakfast time there, so we had some pancakes and smoothies.

Delicious.

After re-fueling we all went our separate ways.  Drew and I headed to Richmond Hill to celebrate our friend Reina's birthday and James and Hunter headed home for a nap.

The birthday party was held at a place called fairy-tale land.  The kids got to dress up as knights, princes and princesses.  For the girls, their make-up was done and sparkles galore were given to them (but of course!).

Drew was so excited about the tattoos!

Craft time!

playing games with the "fairy godmothers" 

 After the party, Drew and I headed over to Vaughn Mills to play at the Bass Pro Shop.  It was a fantastic time.  They had all sorts of things set up for kids to try out and of course, Drew loved looking at the fish and sitting on the 4-wheelers and looking at the boats.

Drew spotted a little girl carrying around a balloon sword, so of course we had to find out where to get one of those.  Drew was really cute, he asked for two, so that his brother could have one.

We escaped the mall (it was crazy busy) and headed over to the Hershey Centre to watch James play basketball (Hunter had been dropped off at Grandma and Grandpa's by this time).  I honestly didn't think Drew would be all that interested in watching daddy play, but he LOVED it.  It was a fight to get him to leave (I had to get him fed and then get to G & G's house in good time as Drew has school tomorrow).  When I asked Drew what his favourite part of today was, he said "watching daddy play basketball".

Once we were at G & G's, the boys played a little and then we all came home.

James is upstairs with them now, reading them stories.  It's a late night for them, and I'm anticipating some struggles in waking Drew up tomorrow morning.

It was a fantastic day though.  I loved being able to spend all that one on one time with Drew.  It's not often I get to do it, and was reminded how important it is for me to do!!