What do you do when......

......your kid decides he hates the new activity he has just tried once?

I'll start from the beginning of the day (yesterday).

I loaded the boys into the van and we headed to gymnastics.  On the way, along Mountainview, I spotted a pile of vibrantly coloured plastic.  Upon closer inspection, I realized it was a little tykes climber.  Score!  I pulled into the drive-way, knocked on the door and asked the PJ'd man if he was getting rid of the climber. He was soooo happy I was going to take it instead of it going into the garbage.  Not happy enough to help me load it in the van though!  It barely fit, was bigger than I thought, and I ended up having to leave our stroller at the man's house (thereby ruining the plans I had for after gymnastics).

Once we made it to gymnastics, both boys had a great time.  Nana showed up half-way through to watch, the boys were thrilled to see her.  After gymnastics, we headed up to the Glen so that I could drop the climber off there (allowing me to pick up our stroller on the way home).  Once there, we filled up the water table and mini pool and the boys were soaked in no time.  After some swimming and splashing, the boys decided they needed to wash their gator and have some ice cream to cool down.  It was HOT yesterday.

The climber will look like this, once it's set up.  I think we're going to take it to the cottage.

After some lunch at Nana's, I took the boys home.  H fell asleep on the way, and had a super long nap.  Water play really tires him out!  Drew and I played outside for a bit at our house, but it was crazy hot, and I wanted Drew to rest a bit before soccer (which apparently didn't help the situation any once we got there).

We headed inside and played lego and trucks for the rest of the afternoon.  Once H woke up, we headed back up to the Glen.  Lots of pool time/water play throughout the afternoon and a hot-dog supper led us to the big moment.  Drew got all dressed in his soccer uniform and I took him to Stewarttown to play his first game.

It was pretty overwhelming once we got to the fields.  There were a ton of games going on, I didn't count them, but I would guess 10 or 12?  Add in all of the kids waiting to start their games at 7:15 and you can imagine all of the people there.  The format for the games is 30 minutes of practice followed by 30 minutes of 3 on 3 game time.

He seemed ok once we first got there.  There was a bit of waiting around, and then he met with his team on the field.  They them called all of the kids in the middle so that they could do a large group warm-up, at this point, Drew decided that he had to go potty...a quick trip to the johnny on the spot and we were back to the warm-up.  This is where things started to go wrong.  He missed the instructions, and Drew does not like it when he doesn't know for sure what's going on.  He followed the instructions as best he could and somehow ended up in tears once it was all done.  He came running out to me, and wanted to leave right then.  Ugh.

I talked him in to trying it out for a bit.  He was upset that he didn't know how to play.  I told him that no one knew how to play....it took some time, but finally got him to join in to the practice.  This part seemed to go ok.  He kicked the ball back and forth with another kid and then they started the game.  He was the first one on, played his time and then the coach told the kids to head to their parents for a second and get some water (did I mention it was hot??).  Here is where I win the "worst parent of the year" award.  I forgot the damn water!  So, the little man was exhausted, AND thirsty.  The rest of the time did not go well.  He refused to go back on the field for most of the rest of the time, and sat with me, instead of his team.  At the very end, the coach finally persuaded him to go back on.

He hated it.  Was so mad at me for putting him into it (he ASKED to play it!!!) and I couldn't help feeling disappointed that he didn't have fun.  It seemed like he was the ONLY kid who wasn't having fun.

We headed back to Nana and Papa's to pick H up and rehydrate Drew and then headed home for a very late bedtime.

I'm not sure what to do.  He asked me today to "un-register" him.  My gut tells me that if we spend some time practicing with him this week, keep playing up the positives of soccer and (ahem) NOT forget the water next week...it will get better.  So that's the plan......hopefully it won't be so hot next week too, that would probably help things.

Wish us luck.

Sunday and Monday

Yesterday, Drew had a play date for lunch at McDonald's with his bestie from JK.  I took Hunter up to my parents house.  At first I was going to bring him, but after I thought about it, realized it would be better for everyone if he played at the Glen.  He can't yet climb the climber by himself at McDonald's (Drew always helps him) and I knew Drew wouldn't want to be always helping Hunter when his buddy was there.  It turned out great.  My parents played with him and had him napping when I got back.

During the play date, the boys played, had lunch and I chatted with his parents.  It was a fun, relaxing afternoon.  After a few hours at the restaurant (yes, I know...2 hours?!?!?) his buddy's parents asked Drew to go back to their house for more fun.  I asked Drew, not expecting him to want to go by himself, and he was SOOO excited.  I dropped him off and then headed back to my parents for a few hours.  Hunter was sleeping, so I just hung out with the 'rents.  Haven't had them to myself in a LONG time!

Once Drew came back (I picked him up at 4) we just hung out and played with water and the trampoline.  It was a great night.  Drew was exhausted at the end of the night......

James didn't get home from work until 3:30am.  Needless to say, he wasn't up when Drew left for school...so sad on the days that he can't see Drew at all (Drew's asleep now, and James isn't home yet).

After I dropped the bean off at school, H and I went to Walmart to pick up some groceries, etc.  Always the "etc" when I shop there!

Once the shopping was done, we played outside for the rest of the morning.  Hunter is obsessed with water play these days, so guess what we did??

After his nap (he fell asleep while I was reading to him) we headed up to the Glen to meet Drew.  My dad ended up meeting him at the end of the lane with the gator, as my mom had to go on to her next run right away (usually she has a few minutes, so she brings Drew right up to the house).  The rest of the evening was much the same as last night.  Water table, kiddie pool and trampoline.  I imagine that will be the main events of our summer!

Hunter fell asleep on the way home (he hasn't done that in a long time!).  Drew took forever to fall asleep.  His room is quite hot, and I can't get the air conditioner to work.  Hopefully James can fix it when he gets home (if he isn't super late again).

Cottage!

We picked Drew up early from school on Wednesday and headed to the cottage for the night.  We were originally thinking that James would just go for the day.  Take the couch up, pull the nasty carpet, etc because it was supposed to be crappy/rainy weather on Thursday.  Drew caught wind of this idea and would have nothing of it...if daddy was going to the cottage, so was he.  We decided to all go, and take our chances with cabin fever if the weather was crappy.

We had a campfire Wednesday night.

James and I enjoyed some beers at the campfire, the boys enjoyed some smores (ok, we enjoyed some smores too).

I tried to get a cute photo of them both blowing dandelions....I am not a photographer.

Drew and I played monopoly junior for the first time.  He LOVED it.  We played several times.

We roped daddy into playing while H was napping.

Drew's 1st fish of the season.

I'm really glad we all decided to go.  Wednesday night was a really nice night.  We had a nice dinner, James pulled the carpet/floor up, and then we had an awesome campfire.  Thursday morning, it did rain all morning...but the boys were happy to play inside, and we played a ton of monopoly junior....great game!  Hunter and I had a really long nap, so James took Drew out in the canoe (for 2 1/2 hours!).  They saw tons of turtles, fish and lots of plants.  Apparently Drew was enthralled the whole time.  Once I woke up (Hunter slept for a while after that), the 3 of us played a few more rounds of Monopoly junior and then we all got some outside time once H woke up.  Playing on their dome and fishing was on the agenda (as well as throwing rocks in the river....we're going to have to order some more rocks, I don't think we'll have any left once my boys are done with them!).  We had dinner there (yummy bbq) and then a peaceful drive home (both boys slept).  A quick watch of "Bethany ever after" for us (ok, for me) and then bedtime.  I ended up sleeping on the couch, as I have a nasty cold and couldn't breath if I was lying flat (Drew joined me at 2am..fun times).

Drew had his jump rope for heart event this afternoon at school, so I went and helped out with that.  It was adorable.  Drew was most impressed with the freezie they got as a treat afterwards.  A quick visit with the parents and then it was home.  I had to rush off to meet some girlfriends for a pedicure and a visit to Kelsy's for some appys and girl chat.

All in all, a wonderful couple of days!

Soccer and a party

Yesterday did not start out very well.  I was pissed at James for going to work (I realize I have no right to be pissed at him, but I was, so there you go) and pissed at myself for still feeling so crappy.

The boys apparently felt my negative energy and decided to go for broke and try and make me crazy.  There was a whole lot of running around dumping things, me yelling, them laughing...you get the picture.

Finally it was time to hit the road, so I loaded the two monkeys into the van and off we went to the Glen.  Drew had a soccer practice, so I was dropping Hunter off with my parents and then taking Drew to his practice.  Drew's practice was fun, but it didn't last long.  The minute we stepped onto the field, it started raining.  We were there for probably 30 minutes total.  During this time, Drew kicked the ball up and down the field a few times...he seemed to like playing.

After soccer, Drew and I hit Timmys and then went back to the Glen.  We were to spend a few hours here, playing with the grandparents and spending some time with Uncle Jamie, who left for Calgary today.  I have no idea when we're going to see him again (maybe that's why I was in such a bad mood?).

After a quick park trip with Nana and Uncle Jamie, the boys and I headed to Kelly's house for Kyla's first birthday party.  The boys (and I) had a fabulous time.  Drew mostly played with Kyla's older brother, Cody and Hunter and I wondered around playing and exploring.  Kelly and Colin did a great job organizing the party, with a few games, lots of snacks, a yummy dinner (lasagna and pizza!) and lots of time for the kids to just play and enjoy each other.

Here are some pics from the day....

My parents picked this kit up for us to take to the cottage....so very thoughtful!

We couldn't have a smores kit in the house and NOT sample it!  Yummy!

The kids and their butterfly nets.  Kelly had put some "butterflies" around her front yard and the kids had to run and find them.....so fun!

Hunter did not like having butterflies in his net...each time I put one in, he would reach in and take it out.

Drew was very excited to find the butterflies.

Ring around the rosie...

The boys enjoying their dinner with some of their friends.  How cute is this??

The beautiful birthday girl!  Happy birthday, sweet Kyla!

Hunter enjoying an after-dinner cookie.

I was yelling at Drew and Cody to come back from the deck, but they either couldn't hear me, or were pretending to not hear me.  Thankfully, Kelly's brother went over to help out.  I didn't hear the conversation, but there was some pointing to cars and the boys were nodding their heads in agreement.  They came back to the house right away.

**sigh**

The past couple of days have been nuts.

I should back-track...right before we left for Regina (I'm not sure if I mentioned this before or not) I took Drew to the doctor, as he had what looked like a cold-sore on his mouth.  We weren't really concerned about it, until James' mom came over and thought it could be something else, and that we should get it checked out.

The doctor told me she was 99% sure that it was a cold sore, but she swabbed it just to be sure.  I was told she would give us a call by saturday at the latest to tell us if he needed to go on medication or not.  Saturday came and went, and we did not hear anything.  I didn't think anymore of it.

Tuesday came, and I had my wisdom teeth removal, and then Wednesday came.  James and I had planned on having a nice, relaxing day.  Drew would be at school, James could take Hunter out and I could recover.

Wrong.

The doctor called us in a panic, telling us that she had to see Drew right away.  The tests had came back and he had a strep infection on his mouth.  He couldn't be at school (couldn't go back until Monday).  Crap.

James and Hunter went and picked him up from school, took him straight to the doctors where he was given antibiotics that he has to take for the next week.  Did I mention he wasn't allowed at school until monday??

Sigh...

The rain didn't make things very easy either.  Poor James was kept on his toes trying to keep the boys occupied while I tried to stay off my feet (the pain-killers they gave me really knocked me out!).

Snickers kept me company while I recovered.

Giant welt on the left side of my face...it's crazy bruised now.  The silly part is, it's the right side of my face that hurts the most.

The boys keeping me company.

James helped the boys make this rocket-ship.

The boys ended up at my parents for some of the time, played here some of the time, they headed to a park yesterday......James was supposed to go back to work on Thursday, but with me being such a mess, he took Thursday and Friday as family days.  He had to go back today, so my parents came and picked the boys and I up, took us to their house and then drove us back this evening.

I'm feeling a lot better now.  Yesterday was probably the worst day.  I'm not 100% and am still on pain-killers, hoping to stop taking most of them tomorrow.

Not so Wise anymore...

My mouth as been really hurting lately.  At my last dentist visit, they told me I had to get my wisdom teeth out and referred me to an oral surgery place.  I went for a consultation with them and scheduled the surgery for June 10, although didn't think I was going to go through with it because we didn't think our insurance would cover more than 50% of the cost.  While we were in Regina, James went online and found that our insurance was going to cover 90%!!!  Happy day!  I called the clinic to see if I could bump up the surgery as my mouth was making me really uncomfortable and I didn't think popping extra strength advil every few hours was the best idea for the next month.  I was told they had an appointment the next day.  Yikes!  Wasn't quite ready for that, that's so soon!  I booked it anyways.

Monday afternoon I went to pick Drew up from my parents after school and then we headed to the Georgetown early years centre for some play with our friends.  My brother joined us for a bit and then James joined us after his dentist appointment.  It was really fun.  Drew had a great time playing with Cody and Hunter had so much fun with all the toys there.

We headed back to Nana and Papa's for dinner and then home for some early bed.

Tuesday morning, James' parent's were here before 7:30 so James and I could head to Mississauga for my wisdom teeth surgery.  I was very nervous for this.  I was being put completely out and always hate the uncertainty of this.

When I first got there, they weighed me and had me rinse my mouth out with mouthwash.  I was then sat down and given some oxygen and then some laughing gas.  The nurse put the IV in my arm and it only took her one try!  I was thrilled with this, because it generally takes nurses a few tries to get the needle in (which makes for a very painful experience for me).  Once the IV was in, they gave me some anti-inflammatory medicine.  I was warned it would be uncomfortable going in for about 30 seconds.  Longest 30 seconds ever!!  After this they put me out.  I remember waking up during the surgery, hearing a "crunch", feeling crazy pain, screaming and then someone saying, "give her more..." then I was out again.  I'll be having nightmares about this for a while.

I awoke in the recovery room, where they gave me ice to put on my face.  They then brought James in to see me, sent him out to get the car and then wheeled me out to my waiting husband in the parking lot.

James brought me home and put me in bed.  The boys were not home as of yet.  Grandma and Grandpa had taken them to their gymnastics class.  Hunter enjoyed it, but Drew would not go in.  "I don't want to go in unless mommy is here".  Sigh.  Once the grandparents brought the boys back from gymnastics they had to rush off as they were babysitting the girls in Toronto.

I passed out for the day.  James bringing me my tylenol 3's, antibiotics and advils every few hours.  James took the boys for pizza and skedaddles for the afternoon, he brought them back so Hunter could have a nap and then they went up to Nana and Papa's for the evening.

I had moved out to the couch by the time they got home, so I got to see the boys before bed.  Drew fell asleep after James read him 4 books and Hunter fell asleep fairly easily too.  Once the boys were in bed, James and I watched some DVR'd Modern family and Friday night lights.

I'm glad I got the surgery done ASAP.  I'm hoping it's a quick recovery!

Sunday May 15, 2011

And the fun continues.

The 4 of us crammed into the van and headed to the superstore in Georgetown.  Drew's friend from school, Nathan, had invited him to his birthday party.  This was a party at the cooking school located in the grocery store.  Drew had done a Loblaws cooking school class once before, with his nursery school, so I was pretty excited to take him.   While we were there, James took Hunter to McDonald's for a late breakfast and some play in the play-land.  It was pouring rain out.

The party was great.  Drew got a spot beside his buddy Christopher and the fun times just rolled from there.  The kids made pancake muffins (I am on a hunt for this recipe, as Drew loved them!) and then each got to decorate their own little cake (not so little, really....I think you could get 8 slices out of it).  It was a space theme, so the kids had space ships and martians to decorate with and were instructed to dig out craters from their cake.  They even got to mix their own colour of icing!  Drew sampled a lot of icing, so between the pancakes (laced with chocolate chips), the marshmallows they gave them as snack (wtf?!?!?)-to be fair, they did give them so melon and strawberries too and all the icing most of the boys were literally spinning in the middle of the room.

So proud of his creation!

Adding jelly beans and gummy bears

Pineview buddies...Christopher, Nathan and Drew (they all had to wear their PJ's to the party).

We bumped into Nana and Papa after the party, which I don't think was that much of a coincidence.  I had told them the previous day what time Drew's party was.  They just can't get enough of their grand-babies!  We had to take Hunter home for his nap, and James had to get to Mississauga for basketball, but we made plans with them to head back to their place for dinner after H's nap.

Dinner was alright.  My mom and I were both in pretty bad moods, both thinking the other was pissed at them.  This happens on occasion, and by the next day, we were ok.  Drew and Hunter got some time in with Uncle Jamie, as he was around for supper and then we took the boys home for an early bed time.  Drew fell asleep right away, Hunter on the other hand took forever to fall asleep.

Once they were both in bed, James and I opened some wine and watched the survivor finale.  I had DVR'd it, only at the end we realized that we had to watch the reunion show to find out who had won and I had failed to DVR that.  Thankfully, we have satellite,  so we taped the reunion show that was on at 1am.

Phew!!!