Face meet pavement

On Thursday Jason tripped when running back from the mailbox. He did quit a number. The scrape starts at his forehead, has the full effect on his nose, & his lip is scabbed where his tooth pushed forward. Today it is at full scab & is much darker, therefore looks much worse than this picture represents. I am thankful that his school isn't getting their pictures done yet.

Yes, he also has a cold so trying to wipe his nose & not hurt his sores is a bit of a challenge.

Dressed for the weather

Well the night at the corn maze was cold, but it was fun. Brad & I were not the only ones who decided to make it a family event so there was a big pack of us going through the maze together. At one point the girls had all run ahead & once we found them (from following the sound of excited chatter) they were told that an adult needs to be in front at all time. The last thing the leader wanted was to lose site of the girls in a corn maze in the dark.


While we were waiting for everyone to arrive another couple arrived with their son. Brad & I were commenting that we were out in the cold because we had to be, but these guys chose this night to go to the corn maze. I figure that like me they made the promise to their child without looking at the forecast & since kids don't care about the cold they had to hold up their end of the bargain. When we were leaving there was a big group arriving to go through the maze with kids that were probably around 12 years old. Glad we were out before they took over the maze.


I must admit that a corn maze at night is much more fun than a corn maze during the day- as long as you can keep the "Children of the Corn" references out of your mind.

It snowed today!!!!!

This morning I was downstairs working out when Brad was leaving for work & he tells the kids to come upstairs because "It's snowing"! The kids run up all excited to see yelling "Really! Really? Really!". I followed them, but I cannot say that my tone was filled with excitement. Now it has not snowed anymore today, but it definitely is far from being categorized as "brisk". It is darn right cold & we are so "excited" because tonight is the night for Sydney's Sparks group to go to the corn maze...yippee! Why didn't I check the weather forecast before I agreed to this being a family night out?

So, I am heading downstairs to pull out their snowsuits to get ready for tonight. They are definitely going to need them.

Thanksgiving Miracle

Art courtesy of Jason's craft at Bunny School (potato turkey) and Sydney's craft at Sparks (pumpkin turkey)

Sydney & I created our fall tree to put the leaves that Jason had collected to use

Thanksgiving is one of my favourite long weekends of the year for many reasons. The biggest reason is the time that we always spend with family, both immediate & extended. This year when we went to the Robinson gathering I had every intention of taking lots of pictures, then realized at the end of our visit that my camera did not even come out of my bag. Emily took Sydney by the hand when she arrived & downstairs they went. The only time we saw them after that was when it was time to eat. I am disappointed that I did not think to take any pictures, but I am happy that Sydney had so much fun with her cousins. Hopefully by next year things will be more fun for Jason too when the boys are older & want to play together.


We also gathered at Brad's parents for the Taylor Thanksgiving & Maddy chose this day to finally walk on her own. She has had the capability for a while now, but just wouldn't take those steps on her own. Well, she did it yesterday & was quite proud of herself & didn't want to stop. Since I was negligent in getting my camera out at the Robinson's I made sure not to make the same mistake again, but the kids move so much and so fast that in a close space I didn't get many good pictures.


Another reason I enjoy Thanksgiving is the "Rockton World's Fair". It is a really good fair & this year the Trampoline show was worth our price of admission. The kids like to watch some of the animal shows, the song & dance shows and of course they love the rides. This year we saw a bolder, braver Sydney at the fair. She always sat up front for the shows & often volunteered to go on stage. She was selected for the Bingo song at the Polka Dot Door show. She tried to get her brother to come up & dance with her afterward, but he's not brave enough for that yet. Maybe next year. The fair is my attempt to remind the kids that there is a world outside of a city or town for that matter. The exposure to animals and agriculture is not something that they are in contact each day like Brad & I were growing up. I want to be sure that our kids appreciate that we need farmers to bring us the wonderful food we love to eat & the milk that they love to drink. I want them to appreciate that food does not just come from the store.

The "cornbox"

Jason had a mini freak out when we tried to direct him to the Dragon roller coaster for his last ride. He wanted the "Jeeps!!!, Jeeps!!!!"

The third reason I typically love Thanksgiving weekend did not really present itself this year. The best weekends include at least one day that is warm enough to wear a light sweater & enjoy the sunshine and beautiful colours of the year. This year we had the sunny day, but the wind was so cold & when the sun wasn't out it was darn right chilly. So, I will hope that next year gives us the day that makes you love Fall more than any other season of the year.

Those Crazy Boys

Each day when I pick Sydney up from school & we talk about her day it seems that more & more often the stories that she has to relate are the ones about the boys. She says the boys in her class are "bathroom crazy" and will go 4 or 5 times a day (however she is only in school for 2.5 hours). She also states that they don't play with the toys right, move all around the classroom when they are not supposed to & can no longer go the bathroom using the "buddy system". I asked Sydney if she thought that Jason would be crazy like these boys when he is in SK in a couple of years. She gave me an emphatic no, however she must be a little worried about it because I heard her ask Jason a couple days later if he was going to be "crazy" like the boys in her class. He of course answered "no", but time will tell.

All was quiet

This morning was a first in...well, I think maybe it was a true first. I woke up this morning, looked over at the clock & saw that the time was 7:30 a.m. I then laid there, listened & what did I hear? Nothing. I was the first one to wake up in our household. I didn't bother getting out of bed, instead I laid there & enjoyed the silence. I was surprised that Brad was still sleeping, but not overly since last night was his first night for hockey & he plays at 10 p.m. I was shocked that Jason was still in bed (he is usually up at 6:30 a.m.) & that is the reason I did not get up. If he heard me, he would quickly be out of bed too. So I laid there in silence for 15 minutes before Jason was out of his room like a shot & downstairs looking for us. Of course, nothing he does is done quietly so within minutes we were joined by Brad & Sydney too.

However, this morning gave me hope that we may have a winter where the kids may sleep a little later. Although Brad is the one up at 6:30 on the weekends, it would be nice if he too could have some silence before the kids get up.

I will treasure my "late" morning, however if I tell Robb & Michele about it they will laugh. Last weekend, their household did not wake until 10:30 a.m.! I cannot imagine starting the day that late with a household filled with a six year old & two 18-month old girls.

How could I forget???

When I write the kids' birthday blog I try to think of all the things about them that I want to be sure to remember as the years go by. Since we tend to grab onto the positive things about our children, the "negative" things don't tend to pop to mind as quickly or maybe dependent on the mood we don't want to commemorate them the same way. However, when you love someone you often love all of them & not just the things that they do great. So to be sure that I take a moment to love my children through the good & bad, I take this moment to note they each have shortcomings as well as their achievements...

Sydney could learn a few lessons from her brother about sharing. Sydney's first thought is not to offer something she has with someone else. Also when she is receiving something in a group, her biggest concern is that she has the most or the biggest. This is an attribute that we are now pointing out to her & I do believe that she is trying to think about it more often, which is an improvement. However, her first instinct is still to want the most.

Jason has the worst (or should I say best?) selective hearing. If he does something wrong & you talk to him about it, he never "knows" what he did wrong. It is maddening! In a related event when something is not quite going his way his first go-to tone is the whiny tone. Or if he asks for something & you don't respond within the next nanosecond he will escalate anywhere from a mild to an explosive freak out. When do kids learn about the "patience is a virtue" quality? :)

My hat goes off to Early Childhood Educators

Part of Jason's enrollment in "Bunny School" is my participation once a month. Today was my duty day and I was curious to see how things rolled each morning. I was quite impressed. Those ladies run a very well oiled and established routine. Being my first day, I felt a little like a fish out of water for a bit. I know how to handle issues that arise with kids in my home and I know that Bunny School handles discipline in a positive manner however when it came to a boy not sharing a car that he clearly coveted what was I to do? I knew that he was to share it & gave him a timeline for when he needed to hand it off to the next boy, but when the time was up & he did not give it up I was a little unsure. I gave him the choice that he could give it to the other boy or I would give it to the other boy, but when he had a death grip on it I was not sure if I was to rip it from his hands or not. Luckily I was interrupted by the teacher to fill out a form I missed & I advised her that there was an issue of sharing the blue car. She handled it exactly the way that I was & gave the same choices. So, now I know next time that I was handling it the right way & yes will need to pull a toy out of the child's death grip if they do not make the right choice.

This learning experience occurred during the first half hour which is free play time. I chose to supervise the block room as that is where the cars & trucks are kept & I figured this is where Jason would want to play. When the kids were let loose it is amazing how the room just swarmed with little boys & not a girl in site. I was happy to see some girls come in near the end of free play & get some blocks out or choose their own cars to play with. Next time I plan to choose either the dress-up room or art room to see if Jason will play in the room that I supervise & do different things or if he will stick to his interest...we will see.

Snack time for 31 kids is interesting & here too the routine is clearly laid out. There was an interesting little boy who will not eat snack & I was advised that when I offer the tray of food around that I not allow it to be near his reach or it may get kicked out of my hands...charming. When it was time for story & this little boy came into my group crying I was thinking...great this is going to be a fun 10 minutes, but once I told him that it was story time & ignored his protests he quieted right away. I think I got lucky on that one. I chose to do the reading circle because I really do like reading with kids & the one story we have at home & knew that the kids would like it. However, what I did forget is that not all children are like ours when it comes to sitting and listening to a story. Our kids will happily sit for a very long time & give you story after story to read, but I read to 31 kids this morning & I bet only 6 of them lasted the 10 minute circle time without fidgeting, playing with their chair, kicking the kid beside them, or trying to tell me or the kid beside them some story about themselves (boo boos, hockey, dinosaurs, cottages, the topics go on & on).

All in all it was a pretty good morning & makes me appreciate Early Childhood Educators all the more.

We made it through a complete week

One complete week finished with both kids in school. My Mondays, Wednesdays, & Fridays are a little nuts with all the shuttling...

• 8:50 am- get kids in van to take Jason to school
• 9:05 am- return from dropping off Jason
  
• 11:20 am- get Sydney in van to pick Jason up from school
• 11:40 am- return from picking up Jason
• 11:40-12:05- eat lunch as quick as possible
• 12:05 pm- get kids back in van to take Sydney to school
• 12:35 pm- return home with Jason & get him down for nap
• 2:30 pm- wake Jason up from his nap (most days) to pick up Sydney from school

One morning I planned to walk Jason to school, but Sydney slept in until 8:30am! We walked home from Sydney's school the one day too, but I am not sure I will do that again anytime soon. With the construction we needed to do a couple detours & pushing 80 pounds uphill to get home...I was exhausted when we finally go there. All in all I love how I am spending my time & the best part is that both kids love school! Let's hope all of this continues!

The pictures are the product of Jason's time at "Bunny School".

There was so much glue on this puppet when we arrived at school that I could hardly find a dry spot to hold it.

Trail Gator

For Sydney's birthday she got this "pipe" as her Papa calls it from her grandparents. Since it was not a cheap item & neither grandparent wanted to feel like all they gave her for her birthday was a pipe, they made it a joint gift. They may not have felt that they were giving her much, but SHE LOVES IT!!! I must say I am rather fond of the item as well.


It attaches her bike to mine, lifts her front wheel off the ground, but still allows her to pedal (& brake). We hooked it up last weekend & she now wants to bike any opportunity she can. The great thing about Jason being in school in the morning & Sydney not going until the afternoon is that we can do fun stuff like this. It also gives me a good excuse to not rush & get showered before dropping Jason off since I definitely need a shower after pulling Sydney around.

Since she cannot have her training wheels on when we are biking together, the added bonus is her interest in getting rid of her training wheels completely. Her balance has improved significantly since the first time we went out with the Trail Gator, but not quite enough to get her going on two wheels alone. I've tried to help her with this skill development, but I think Brad does it much better.

Girl Time

As for my girl time with Sydney, we had to return some pants that I got her for her birthday & thankfully there is now a H&M at the mall in Burlington. I don't think I could make it over to Hamilton & back in 2 hours. While there Sydney got an extra treat because there was a "performance" by Toopy & Binoo (who I truly don't get). Since we had to leave to pick up Jason by 11:30, she only got to see 10 minutes. Thankfully she understood this requirement & was was happy for the excuse to leave.

Sydney on the way to the mall told me that it is a good thing that she only goes to school for half the day because I like to spend time with her. You know what Sydney, you are right. When I picked Sydney up at school today I congratulated her teacher & told her that Sydney has loved her first week. She congratulated me right back and said that Sydney is a sweet and smart little girl. What parent doesn't like to hear stuff like that?

I am not even sure which one is which

First Day of Bunny School

Cool dude ready for school

This morning was Jason's first day at Benjamin Bunny Nursery School, which he calls "Bunny School". The other day he asked me if there would be any black bunnies there & I again explained to him that there are no bunnies there, that it is just the name of the school. I think after today he finally understood. He will be going Monday, Wednesday & Friday mornings for 2.5 hours. This will be great for him, but since his program ends 55 minutes before Sydney's class starts it is a little crazy getting him picked up, getting some lunch into them & getting over to Sydney's school. Today was a little hairy, so I think we will have a bit of trial and error until we find our right mix. We will probably just get it down pat & winter will come & we will need to adjust again due to snow suits, weather & the increase in time it takes to do anything during our cold season.


This morning Jason was pretty good. He didn't seem too stressed and did seem to be looking forward to going to "school". He also was pretty good when we arrived & talked with the teachers. Then the teachers told the kids they were going to go into the gym to sing "The Wheels on the Bus" and that is when the parents got the boot. There was a bit of hysteria as the kids realized they were now being separated from their parents. I saw them grab Jason and pull him back into the room when he realized I wasn't behind him & I could hear him crying my whole way out the door. However, I am assured that all but one child (not Jason) were calm within 10 minutes. When we picked him up he was of course fine & told us about his morning (made a crown, played trains, sang songs & something else we could not understand). He also remembered that he met a boy named Jake and that the teacher he had today was Mrs. Van Imp (sp???). I was quite impressed at that recollection & happy that he is excited to go back on Monday. However, we'll see how that rings true on Monday when I have to leave him again. :)

Can you tell the panic is setting in???

All smiles & full of what he did when we picked him up. May have some tough moments for a bit, but he will be very happy to leave me & have fun on these mornings soon.

Happy Birthday to me

With Sydney's birthday being 2 days before mine, the focus for the week is definitely on her & I really don't have too much of an issue with that. Today my present to myself was to put Jason down for a nap & then just use that time to read & do nothing. Well, that lasted for about 45 minutes & then I got antsy & started doing stuff around the house anyway. If I had known he was going to sleep the whole time & that I would need to wake him to go get Sydney, I would have gotten out my scrapbooking. Of course if I had taken that route he likely would not have slept.

Brad offered to bring something home so that I didn't have to cook, but since we still had leftovers from Sydney's party I had no issue with nuking our dinner. I am not a cake person, so I suggested to Brad that we go to DQ after dinner for ice cream. Instead I was blindfolded while he got my ice cream cake ready. When he got home, he talked to Sydney in our bedroom and the conversation went like this...

Brad: Sydney, do you want to know a secret?

Sydney: Yes

Brad: I got Mommy an ice cream cake for her birthday

Sydney's eyes light up and go very wide

Sydney: (very softly) Daddy, I will try but I don't know if I can. I've never known a secret this good before.

Only with tears in my eyes

Bye "Dydney"

Today was Sydney's first day of Senior Kindergarten & I left with tears in my eyes, but no crying. This year I wasn't too focused on how I felt about her going to school, I was worried about her. Since we decided to put her in French Immersion, she needed to start at a new school. We could have put her in this school last year, but that would have meant changing her daycare & that just didn't seem worth it in the event that we changed our mind about French Immersion. So, I was that overprotective parent worried about her little girl starting at a new school & blending with a group that may have been in class together last year. Luckily I knew that there was going to be a girl in her class that she already knows, so I talked to my friend Jane to see if she could talk to Katelyn about Sydney being in her class. I haven't had a chance to talk to Jane yet to see if she "coached" Katelyn, but they did look like two peas in pod walking hand-in-hand into their class. It was so sweet, it brought the tears to my eyes. Jason's need to hug his sister two times was also quite sweet.


We made the decision to put her in French Immersion with some hesitation. There is the big concern of how she will adapt to a different language being spoken when she is already so shy. Will she gain the confidence to participate when she hardly spoke in JK? In our school board instruction is 100% French for the first 2 years. This may sound overwhelming, but Sydney seems to be quite excited about learning another language which is half the battle. I also think that if all goes well for her, the benefits of speaking two languages are obvious. Part of my hesitation relates to how I pictured her school years and the involvement I wanted to have in those years. What will my homework involvement be? What will school concerts be like? When I volunteer in class, what help will I provide when I don't speak the language? But, hopefully along the way, I will recover some of what I learned in our poor Core French classes from Grade 5 (or 6?) through to Grade 13. I may also enroll in some courses at Mohawk as well, we will see.


Anyways, the girl above is the girl that left for school at noon today & below is the girl that I picked up at school 2.5 hours later. The teacher doing special things in the class to celebrate her birthday probably helped the excitement. Sydney could not sit still & was bouncing around everywhere tonight. She cannot wait to return tomorrow. Yeah!!!!

More celebration.

Although Sydney's "friend party" was a couple of weeks ago, we also had to celebrate her actual birthday so she technically stretched her birthday to 3 days of celebration. First the friend party, then the family party yesterday & today the "actual" birthday.

Since Sydney doesn't start school until tomorrow, I asked her what she would like to do. She wanted to go to an indoor playground, so we went today. Her friend Alina came for the day & before bed Sydney told us she had a fantastic birthday, the best ever. She has many years of memories to draw on though, right?

Party #2 with family

The cake
On the back of the picture for this cake was a knight's cake which Jason tells me everyday that he wants for his birthday. Hopefully he gets off this track soon so that I don't need to hear it for the next 10.5 months.

The wish
(which according to her she never makes)

Party #3, today

Little Monkey's

This is as high as they got

The princesses were running from Jason the Dragon
I told Sydney that they didn't need a boy to save them, so she decided that she would save Princess Alina herself

That horse they are riding is Jason

Leftover cake, with a new candle, at home

Five Years Old

Five years ago today I became a mom to a little girl who is everything I dreamed of and more. You are sweet, shy, caring, and extremely lovable. When you turn on your full smile and let those dimples show, it warms my heart. Although you don't like us to call you a "little girl", you are still a petite little thing and it is hard not to call you that. However, each day you often do something that makes me realize that the "little girl" is fading away to be replaced by a "kid" who likes to do big kid things. Our most recent introduction to this is the addition of a CD player in your room which you enjoy playing very loudly which results in me asking you to turn it down. As much as you don't like to hear this, I also don't like to find myself doing things that remind me that I am now doing many of the things my mother did when I was little. These actions remind me that not only are you growing up, but I am too.

You are such a good kid. Often strangers watch you interact with your brother & I while we are out and many, many times they tell me what a sweet girl you are. You are a terrific big sister. You play so well with your brother and almost always include him (or are willing to include him) in what you are doing. You love to play house, dress up in costumes, play doctor, and dance around to music. I love to watch you try to lift Jason and spin him around. He practically weighs the same as you, so it is an impressive act that you can get his toes off the floor.

You love to climb. This was not something that you tormented us with when you were a baby, but it is definitely something you love to do now. With encouragement you will try new things, but it often takes some coaxing. In the last year you started skating & in the spring you donned some strap-on rollerblades. Hopefully we will have more time over the next year to practice these two skills so that you can go even faster & have more fun. Another thing that we need to commit some time to is getting those training wheels off. I think you are ready, so hopefully we can get them off before your bike goes away for the winter. These acts are things that you like to do & I think it is because you can be with people, but do your own thing at the same time. You may not want to be the leader of a group, but you still are not a follower which generally makes us pretty happy (during soccer for example, it would be great if you were more interested in doing the same as the rest of the team ;)). Our hope is that you grow to be comfortable in your skin & not be what someone else wants you to be.

Although you have grown a lot in the last year, there are some things that are still the same. Your favourite things right now are:

• the colour yellow
• chocolate (although you enjoy candy or anything sweet in general)
• swimming (you are getting closer to swimming on your own)
  
• crafts (you quite often want to keep us from throwing out things so that you can make a craft with it- the wrapper from a Kool-aid jammer for example)
  
• books (hopefully you like to read as much as you like to be read to)
• t.v. (I often wonder if we let you watch more t.v. if you would be less transfixed when it is on, but I am not willing to test that theory)
• music (you often make up your own songs)
  
• movie night ( you love when you get to stay up later & watch a movie with Mommy & Daddy)

You still call us Mommy & Daddy and I hope that we still get that title for a couple more years, but you occasionally throw in a "Mom!" so I am worried it might slip away. Tomorrow is your first day of Senior Kindergarten and another school year will speed by in which you will continue to grow into a girl who wants more to stand on her own rather than hold onto my hand. I am not going to wish that time here, I am going to enjoy that you still want me to hold your hand, read to you at night and just cuddle sometimes for the sake of cuddling.

Let's Go to the Ex, Oh Baby...

Yesterday we spent just shy of 10 hours at the EX with the kids without a stroller or wagon. We were taking the GO train & Brad thought it would be a pain to bring it and I did not push the issue. Then when we arrived & he said no to renting a stroller, I again held my tongue (yes, I can do that sometimes). However, I must say the kids did really well & did next to no complaining about the amount of walking did. They even complied when we had to hustle from one end of the grounds to the other end to make it to the Superdog show. It was worth the rush since the show was a highlight of the day. Jason says that he liked the show, but for some reason when Pot Roast the bulldog came out Jason started to cry saying "he not like that dog". Not exactly sure what that was about, but it could have been due to the black leather they had him dressed in- maybe Jay thought he looked scary.

The day went much better than expected. We did not buy the kids a ride all day arm band as we wanted to be sure that we did other things rather than just going on rides. From the start we told them that they each got to pick 7 rides and that was it, so when a kind gentleman gave us his leftover tickets there was no problem when they got a bonus ride. Sydney chose to "fly" and go on a ride that Jason was not big enough for & Jason went on the kiddie jeeps. Both were happy. Happy kids, happy parents.


In the kiddie land we saw Harry and his bucket full of dinosaurs, a magic show, part of the reptile show & a Backyard Circus. The Backyard Circus was Sydney's choice & she was the only one who watched it. Jason lost interest pretty quickly & came to the back with Brad & I. He was indifferent to the wait, but Brad and I could not wait for it to be over. It was rather painful to wait through.


Although we got home 2 hours after the kid's bedtime, Brad & I were closer to being ready for bed than they were. I really wish you could bottle that energy! Although, we know that Jason was overtired as the night was filled with his typical wakings when he goes to bed over tired. At 4:15am, he wanted to get up. It took 4 more visits to his room & a voice that was bordering on threatening to get him to go back to sleep & let the rest of the house sleep.

Jason wants to go back next year because he needs to go on the helicopters again.

Sydney's favourite ride, the Pirate Ship
We learned that Jason is going to be a screamer on rides.

Happy to have 2, not 4

Last week we had Brooke & Bailey and we loved having them here. I appreciate this time with them as it helps you get to know them better and it also helps you appreciate the benefits of having only 2 kids. Everything takes longer with 4 kids & this is with 4 pretty well behaved kids. Getting ready in the morning takes longer, meals take longer (& more challenging for food selection), getting out the door takes longer...you get the idea. Since they play well together, we didn't have too many fights in that area, but Jason did have a few tears when they did not want to include him in what they were doing- which really wasn't too often. However since they departed, Sydney is definitely not playing as well with her brother as she did prior to Brooke & Bailey being here. This hopefully will pass quickly.

We spent our time swimming, going to the park, visiting with family, movies, doing some crafts & just old-fashioned playing. I was sad to see them go since I know it will be awhile before we see them again, but Brad told me that Sydney dissolved into tears before I left the driveway with them. She really enjoyed her time with them & looks forward to seeing them again.

Playing at Lowville Park

Trying to catch fish at Lowville

Grabbing a bite to eat with Nana

Not wearing bathing suits did not stop them from getting wet

Visiting with cousin Cara & Jaxon at Nana's pool.
Great Aunt Debbie, GG, Sandi, Cara & Jaxon came for a visit.

Sydney definitely LOVES the water & will swim until her lips are blue.

Good old-fashioned pretend play

Monkey-see, monkey-do

Waiting for the mermaid shrinky dinks to shrink.

The day after the girls left we went to Goderich. I wanted to pick something up at the square & apparently Sydney & Jason needed to catch some much needed shut eye.