My baby is 4!

Happy birthday, little man! 

Drew woke up this morning, saw his gifts from us sitting on the playroom floor and wanted to open them right away (naturally).  I told him he had to wait until daddy woke up, before I knew it, he was jumping on daddy and running straight for his gifts (poor daddy).

After the gift opening extravaganza, Drew and James headed outside to take the recycling out.  Surprise!  There was cow poop at the end of the drive-way.  Never a good sign.  A trip back to the field found our bull standing at the gate (which was left open yesterday - oops!).  I'm not sure where he went, but he went for a little adventure and then tried to go back to the field before we found out.  Newsflash buddy, when you leave poop, we're going to figure it out!  Thank goodness he was the only one who went for a walk.  Gate was closed, all is well now.

A while back, I had found out that Thomas the train was playing (through toons for toddlers) in Oakville at a real movie theatre.  I was very excited about this, so I said to Drew, "why don't we ask Nana and Papa to watch Hunter and mommy and daddy can take you on a movie date".  His response?  "Can Nana and Papa take me to the movies and you and daddy watch Hunter?" 

And so it went...

Nana and Papa taking Drew to see "Misty Island Rescue"

While Drew was at the movies, Hunter had a nap, and I iced the cupcakes for the party and got the last minute preparations together.

We held Drew's party at his old nursery school (Hornby Co-op).  We ordered pizza, wings, had chips, fruit and cupcakes.  Our friends and family joined us for the occasion, and we had a great time.  Drew was spoiled with a ton of gifts, and played wonderfully with all who attended.  I am very proud of him!  He was very excited, and had a TON of sugar, so today could have gone very, very badly!  LOL

Aunt Laurie and Hadley

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you..."

The boys with Hadley

Decorating cupcakes

After the party, we headed up to Nana and Papa's to open up their "big" gift to Drew (and to Hunter).  Drew was thrilled to have his own bouncy castle.  Lucky little man.  He also set up his new Thomas tracks (all the new ones he got were for his set up at Nana's). 

I thought for sure that Drew would fall asleep on the ride home for the Glen.  Hunter fell asleep, but Drew was still going strong when we got home.  James whisked him off upstairs and read him a few stories.  He's sleeping right now, hopefully he has a great sleep after that busy day!  Hunter is sleeping now too, hopefully for a while....because I am TIRED!!!

Happy birthday, Andrew.  I love you so much, and am so proud of the little man you are growing to be.

The birthday festivities begin

Taking a break from the art action

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Happy birthday little man.  I love you more than you will ever know.

Wednesday is our playgroup day.  We belong to "Momstown Milton".  For those of you that haven't heard of Momstown, go to momstown.ca to check it out.  It's a wonderful program for moms and their kids.  Wednesday in Milton is preschooler playgroup day, and we try to attend every week....although, lately, we haven't been quite as regular (being at the cottage and sickness have gotten in our way).  Anyways, since Drew's birthday is on saturday, I offered to host a "birthday" playdate for Drew at our house.  Unfortunately, at the same time as playgroup today was a free trial class of kindermusic.  Most of our playgroup friends had signed up for the free class, so we were going to reschedule.  Our friend Kristi, though, had just opened up a kid's art studio RIGHT NEXT DOOR TO KINDERMUSIC!!!!  How convienent.  She offered to host Drew's birthday playdate right after kindermusic.  Perfect.  Her studio is called "Scribble n' Splatter.  It's located in Milton.  Check it out at http://www.scribblensplatter.com
The kids painted, beeded, chalked, dressed up and just plain had fun.  Hunter kept trying to eat the beads, I guess they looked like candy to him.  It was really quite funny, every time I looked, he was grabbing for them.
I made cupcakes and ordered pizza and Drew was even spoiled with a few gifts!  A great morning!

Today started off on a bit of a sour note for my husband.  He worked until 2am and then was up at 9 (when he apologized to me for "sleeping in" - oh, how our lives have changed).  I then informed him that the cows were in a field that they were not supposed to be in.  Ugh.
He promptly went out (in the cold and rain) to get them back to where they were supposed to be and to fix the fence.  They did a number on the fence, and poor hubby was out there all morning.
The boys and I spent the morning munching on breakfast, watching treehouse tv, playing trains, and crafting.  Drew and I had hit the dollar store yesterday and had some brand-spanking new glue.....VERY exciting!
At noon (James has to leave for work at 1) the boys and I got dressed up in our boots and coats and headed out to the field (Hunter in the backpack).  We found daddy, working hard on the fence, surprised at what time it was.  He rushed to finish and then took Drew to give the cows some hay (Drew was thrilled)....Hunter and I headed back to prepare a quick, warm lunch for everyone.
Once daddy left for work, the boys and I did some more crafting, played some more trains.....and made it "rain" diapers......long story...but the boys loved it (they were clean, don't worry).
The afternoon found us at nana and papa's, where Drew and nana looked for worms in the garden, hosted a pretend birthday party (which Drew invited Hunter to, but not me......something I could live with), and played trains (surprising, I know).
We all played hide and go seek and tag in the front yard, and played throw and catch with a giant ball that we found in the basement.
After this visit, we headed to the grocery store where I found cake mixes on sale and water wings for next to nothing.
It was a perfect day, I am a lucky woman.......ask me again if I care that my yard looks messy and my house isn't sparkling clean......cause I don't, I played with my boys today, and it rained diapers.....lol......:)

Garden

How the #$*#&# do people with kids keep their property looking good?  Seriously.  Our home is a mess inside, but outside.  My dear lord.  My beautiful vegetable/flower garden that I had spent many an hour tending to (even once Drew came along, I managed to keep it under control) is one big weed.  Even Drew commented on what a mess it is.  I have a rose of sharon tree in the middle of it that can hardly be seen due to the weeds.  We are going to tear it up and spread grass seed over it (keeping the rose of sharon tree) and I feel like such a failure. 

The highlight of the day.....Drew riding on an elephant!

Hunter enjoying lunch

Drew and Nana on the elephant!

Our day at African Lion Safari was amazing.  The day truely exceeded my expectations.  Drew, Hunter and I picked up Nana (daddy and papa were working today) at 9:30 and hit the rode, after a quick stop at Timmy's, we were there in less than an hour.  Hunter slept and Drew watched his DVD. 
Once there (I had picked up the tickets at a discount from Costco the day before) we drove straight to the "drive-thru" game reserve.  We saw lions, cheetahs, giraffes, monkeys, ostriches, rhinos and many other exciting creatures all from the comfort of our vehicle.  Drew was thrilled and so excited with each new animal we saw.  The ostriches came right up to the van, and were nibbling on the mickey bauble thingy we have on our antenae....Drew thought it was hilarious.  I was nervous to go through the monkeys, as I'd heard horror stories of monkeys tearing up cars.  In fact, 2 cars ahead of us, the  monkeys were climbing all over a car, and would not get off!  Once we got home, Drew was telling my dad about the monkeys on the car and said, "the car in front of us drove off with monkeys on it, and now the monkeys are their pets".  Too cute.
After the game reserve, we headed into the "Park".  We went straight to the boat ride and then headed for lunch as we were all starving.  Hot dogs and chicken fingers were the dishes of the day for us.  Pretty good, actually.
After lunch we attempted to head straight for the train ride, but were distracted by a playground.  Drew played on/in it and Hunter just played with the rocks outside of it.  After the playground, Drew had a ride on a pony....you should have seen his smile.
Once at the train ride, we waited for around 10 minutes and then rode the train.  It just goes around in a circle, but part of the trip includes going over a bridge.....made for a happy Drew.  Hunter was pretty tired at this point, so he just concentrated on keeping his eyes open.
While on the train, Drew saw people getting elephant rides  Naturally, that's where we headed next.  Drew and nana had a great time atop of the great big animal. 
The splash pad/pool was our last stop for the day.  Both boys LOVED this part.  It was shallow enough that they could both walk around in the water, but deep enough that when they sat, they could splash/fill their bucket up.  Perfect!
After a quick ice cream cone treat, we hit the road for home.  We got lost, and probably added 30 minutes to our drive, but Hunter slept the entire time and Drew was content playing with the GPS....perhaps we should have used it, instead of letting him play with it!
A dinner of subway and timbits at nana and papa's house capped off the perfect day.  The boys were angels the entire day.  It really was so much fun!

Happy birthday Ethan and Emma!

This morning we went to Drew's friends from school, Ethan and Emma's birthday party.  It was held at Skedaddles indoor playplace here in Milton.  Drew and Hunter both had great times.  Neither of them stopped running the entire 2 hours that we were there.  It was done at 12:30, we left from there to head to McDonald's to get James and I some lunch (James had to be at work for 2).  We figured we could grab a quick lunch there while the boys played in the playplace.

Wrong.

Once there, Hunter was asleep, so he was put into the stroller.  Drew headed straight into the playplace and came out in less than 5 minutes crying.  "I'm tired mommy, I want to go home".  Once we had the food, we scoffed it down and I took the boys home, James left for work.

Drew was awake when we got home, surprisingly enough.  I thought I would have to deal with a crazy cranky boy all afternoon, but once inside, he asked to go up for a nap.  I walked him upstairs, tucked him in with his blankie and he slept for the next 3 hours.  Hunter was wide awake by this point (of course, why can't they both sleep at the same time!?!) and we hung out and played all afternoon.

Got a call from nana at 3:30, informing me that she was buying a ham and our services were required to help her and my dad eat it.  Naturally, we couldn't pass up that offer, and once Drew woke up, we were off to Nana's (again).

A great day.  Glad it's James' day 5 though, we miss daddy being home!

Day 1 of the newer me!

James and I took the boys to the gym this morning.  It had been awhile since we'd been there, but Drew went in to the kids area with no problem.  Hunter started out happily enough, but one of the caregivers had to get James about 20 minutes into it, as Hunter was freaking out.  I guess she had asked Drew to come help his brother.  Caregiver - "Drew, your brother is having a hard time over here, could you come and play with him to help him feel better?" Drew - "No thank you, I'm having fun right here".

Well, at least he was polite, I'll give him that.

James went in, and played with Hunter for a few minutes, calmed him down, and then left again.  Hunter was fine for the rest of the time.

After this, I dropped my 3 boys off at Bristol park in Milton and speeded off to my foot appt.  I had it in my head that I was going to get the same treatment as last time, but at the last minute (well, after the doctor had dug at my foot hard enough to make it bleed) I chickened out and asked her to use a weaker acid.  She did, and while it's a little sore, it is NOTHING compared to the last treatment.  I have to leave it on for 36 hours and then I do a salt-rinse to neutralize it.

I picked them up at the park and we walked over to subway for lunch.  We are addicted to subway.  Right now they have 5$ footlongs, and we are capitalizing on that deal.

James went off to work at 1, Hunter had a nap and Drew and I played in the sandbox.  Once Hunter woke up, we headed up to the Glen and hung out with nana and papa.  Drew was supposed to have a sleepover tonight.  I left him there, but got a call at 8:30.  I guess once Drew had settled in for the evening, he asked to come home.  He didn't cry or anything, but decided that maybe he didn't want to sleep over afterall.  This is the first time he's done this, and has slept at my parents house many times before.  My parents brought him home, he was asleep when they got here.  Poor little man.  I was plagued with homesickness as a kid.....only it would be 2 or 3 in the morning when I would have my little freak outs and my parents would come and pick me up.  I hope Drew isn't starting down this path.....I didn't grow out of it until I was in grade 6.