poop, poop, more poop and some sand....oh, and ants too

It's one of the farm chores that I"ve always hated.  Getting rid of the manure.  James announced this morning that it was time to spread the manure from the barnyard and you would not believe how excited Drew was to help.  Let's go, daddy! 
Off they went, hand in hand, to shovel the poop.  I wouldn't let Drew ride on the John Deere with James while he was loading the spreader, as it doesn't have a cab on it.  So, Drew patiently waited, on the house side of the fence, while James filled the spreader, and then he'd grab Drew and off they went in the international tractor (with the cab).  James taught Drew how to turn the manure spreader on and let Drew steer the tractor as they worked.  It was adorable to watch them work. 
Once they were done that job, Drew decided that it was time to finish off his sandbox.  They got out their tools and set to work.  A very productive day, as the sandbox is all ready to be filled with sand now.  We even called Harwood's and it's being delievered tomorrow morning! 
After all of this, we headed up to Nana and Papa's to await their return (they have been in Las Vegas for the week).  We had Swiss Chalet for dinner and when we returned, there they were.  Drew was thrilled and threw a huge fit when it was time to leave.  Can't really blame him...it's been a while since he last visited with them.  Poor little man.
And where was Hunter during all this?  Napping in the morning, playing with me in the afternoon, and chasing Nana and Drew around in the evening.  He's getting so fast, and is starting to be so interested in whatever Drew is doing.  So very much in love with his big brother!

I have these memories of my mother.  I remember her frantically running around the house before company (read  -extended family) with a broom and a dustpan, getting frustrated with me and my brother if we left messes around the house.  My brother and I would look up at her with confused looks on our faces, because she was usually so fun.  We'd look around the house, and not see anything wrong, the toys on the floor were just evidence of our fun.
Fast forward 20 years.  I am EXACTLY like my mother.  Today for example.  James was supposed to have his "team" from work over this evening for a bbq.  I sent Drew to my in-laws for the afternoon and cleaned like a mad-woman for seriously 4 hours (Hunter slept for 2 of those, and then I just cleaned around him).  I have this fear of what people will think of me and my messy house.  The thing is, it wouldn't induce such a panic if I just cleaned on a regular basis....did a little bit at a time, instead of a whole house, mad-dash clean when we have people coming over.  It's not like I don't clean ever, I just choose to play with my kids instead of scrubbing the floors, or vacuuming the carpets.  Each time the panic happens, I vow to make cleaning more apart of my routine, and this time, I really will...promise!  I'm a bad housewife, there I said it.

Not-so- Kid appreciation

Boston pizza was advertising a "kid appreciation" day today.  "Games, clowns, magicians, fun for the whole family" it said.  Wow, I thought.  What a perfect thing for us to do on a rainy saturday evening.  I told Drew about the clown and the games, and he was sold.  "Let's go now, Mommy!"  We braved the crazy rain storm, packed in the van, and headed off.  I should mention here that James was at work (still is as I write this) so I was parenting solo on this night.
We show up at the restaurant, and I ask if it's kids appreciation day...they say, yup, it sure is.  Great, I think to myself...this is going to be so fun.
They show us to our seats, "where are the games, mommy?" asks Drew.  I ask the server, she says there are no games.  I ask about the clown, she tells me there are no clowns.  I want to punch this girl in the nose.  So, what is happening for kids appreciation day then?  She tells me, "oh, there's a magician".....ok, I guess that will salvage the night.  We wait FOREVER for this damn magician to come...Drew is looking all over for the magic man.  Finally, this teenager shows up at our table and mumbles, "you wanted a magician?"  So, I pretend to be all excited and say to Drew, "it's the magician, hunny!!"  He's looking all around.....finally he asks, "where?"  "Right here"  I point to the awkward teenager who barely speaks english.
So, he does a couple tricks with a ball, and then at the end, gives Drew a crayon, does some fast moves with his hands and the balls disappear.  He tells Drew, "the balls are in your crayon" and leaves.
So, for the entire meal, Drew is flicking his crayon, saying all the magic words he can think of to get the balls out of the crayon.  Thanks magic man, ya jerk.  I finally had to tell Drew that the balls only came out when the magician was around, and that he had to go home to bed, so the balls weren't going to come out.  We'd have to leave the crayon here, and maybe next time we can get them out. 
Drew tells me on the way home that he didn't think "that guy" was a real magician cause he didn't have a cape, and magicians ALWAYS have capes. 

F-You - AQ!

So, I'm taking an AQ course (additional qualification for all you non-teachers out there) in Kindergarten education.  My reasoning for taking said course was a) Drew is entering kindergarten in the fall, thought it would be of extra interest for me and 2) with the implementation of the full-day learning program in Ontario, there will be more jobs in kindergarten in the next 5 years.....wow, I'm so smart, eh?? 

What I didn't take into consideration when deciding to shell out the 700$ for this course was that my children do not sleep, therefore, I have no time to work on this $%$&$ course.  I have resorted to having my husband come along to chapters with the kids in the mornings (he works in the PM) and I take off to starbucks (attached to chapters) for a few hours of high speed internet work (the course in web-based). 

This course has induced a lot of stress into my life, of which I do not deal well with.  My husband is pissed that I'm taking it, because he no longer has time for the work that he needs to do on the farm.  I also don't think it will help me get a job.  I have applied for more than 50 teaching jobs in the past few months and have had, count them, NO INTERVIEWS!!! 

So, let's sum this up.....I spent a fortune on a course that has created a "hell" for me this month, made me miserable around my children and husband and will probably just result in me supply teaching again this year.  Awesome.  Money well spent.

Poop

So, I should begin this post with the fact that we live on a farm.  As such, my boy pees outside in the summer.  He loves peeing outside for some reason, so we let him go for it in the bushes, as long as it isn't anywhere close to where we hang out and where Hunter will crawl near.  So, on this particular day (yesterday) Drew was actually inside when he said he had to pee.  "Ok", said I, "let's head upstairs"...."no, I want to go outside" was his response.  Not in the mood for a confrontation, I agreed.  Off he goes, happily running through the yard, naked as the day he was born.  Suddenly he comes running in saying, "mommy, I need a toilet...QUICK".  It's important to note that we don't allow number 2 outside.  "But the cows do it mom"......anyways, off he goes, running upstairs when I hear..."mom, we've got a little problem...come quick". 
Turns out he couldn't make it upstairs and pooped on the stairs.  I haven't laughed that hard in a long time......I'm not sure why I thought it was so funny, but man, in that moment, the funniest thing ever.  Just kinda summed up the day I was having, I guess.
Just another day in the life!

Happy Canada Day!

Yesterday, we celebrated Canada's birthday.  Canada day is always a "wierd" holiday because it falls on the actual day, not the friday or monday before or after.  Some companies give the actual day off, and some give the  friday or monday before or after.  James just happened to have the day off, my dad had to work and gets today (friday) off.

We spent the day in Glen Williams.  My mom, brother and his friend were around and joined us for the festivities.  We walked down to main street and enjoyed the annual parade (James bought us a few treats from the Glen Oven bakery...yum!), then headed to the park to see what was going on there.  The park was jammed and I could see steam coming out of my husband's ears.  We let Drew play there for a little bit and then headed back up to my parents place.

Drew spent the afternoon/evening riding on his ride-on toys, and playing with everything at nanas.  Hunter enjoyed playing with some smoothed rocks in his water-table (without the water...it was pretty cold yesterday!).  James helped my dad grease the baler once dad got home from work.  Mom, Drew and I took a short break from the fun and drove to Tim Horten's to pick up some timbits and some coffees for my parents.  We had swiss chalet for dinner and then took the very tired boys home.  They both fell asleep on the drive home.  A successful day!

Today, we met my sister in law, my niece and some friends at Canada's wonderland.  It was the first time I'd been there since university.  We had a great time.  Stayed in the kids area, Drew rode on most of the rides there, and left around 4.  We bought season's passes this year, so hopefully we'll be there quite a bit this summer.

We left Wonderland and headed straight for Ikea.  Had some meatballs and a tuna sandwhich and played in the play area in the food court.  Finished dinner and sent Drew down to the play area, which is adorable, by the way.  James, Hunter and I walked around and dreamed about everything we want for the cottage.  Priced out making a kitchen island and discovered how very expensive it could be (over 1000$!!).  Bought a couple of curtain rods, and then picked Drew up from the play area.  He wanted to head back up to the food court and play there again....so off we went.  We were at Ikea until 7ish....packed the boys in the van and off we went home.  Traffic was ridiculous, but both boys fell asleep almost immediately.  Hunter woke up screaming about 10 minutes from home, but thank goodness Drew stayed sleeping.  Transferred them both to their beds and are now enjoying a nice quiet evening!