MOTHER'S DAY 2014

This is my third Mother's Day as a Mom and I still can't believe I am lucky enough to be on this journey!!  There are things I learn that give me such an appreciation for my own Mom and why she did or didn't do things that at one time I'm sure I questioned. I want you to know, Mom, I am beginning to understand. To understand everything. The messy house, (you were far too busy having fun outside, watching us splash in puddles, climb hay stacks and bake mud pies,) the casseroles for dinner (you were far too busy sewing us and our Barbies clothes to spend time every night preparing some fancy meal,) the "mom" jeans (you spent all of your money, happily, on making sure your three girls always looked adorable and stylish,) the curfews and snoopy questions (you loved us more than I ever understood until now and were just trying to protect us!)  I understand what it means to love someone so much that you'll let laundry pile up, dishes pile up, dust, dog hair and toothpaste slop cover your counters and floor just so you can spend another 10 minutes playing outside. To love someone so much that you can find a way to justify Mini wheats for dinner if it means they'll get something in their bellies. To love someone so much that you'll spend all of your money on clothes, for three and one year olds instead of yourself. To love someone so much that you will literally "stalk" them to keep them safe!  I get it! I'm a MOM!!

Today started exactly the same way it has for the last three years. We woke up and headed to the big Mother's Day 5km run/walk. This has race has become a tradition for our Family though Marty doesn't actually participate in the actual walking/running part. His role is that of Chariot loader upper, mini van driver and finish line cheerleader! This was the first Mother's Day race that Payton was able to participate in (last year she hung out at the Finish Line with Daddy.  She was less than 2 months old.)  Though she's very steady on her feet and a very capable walker, I didn't actually want her "walking." She is way too unpredictable, refuses to hold my hand and will not under any circumstances walk in the direction of the majority. Nope, Payton was going to have to ride. She is not a big fan of riding in the chariot, so I planned for her to ride in the backpack. This was Ryder's third race (I use the term "race loosely. This is actually promoted as a race of sorts, but it's more of a very HUGE Family friendly stroll,) in the chariot, though his first in the double chariot. I hoped he would walk a good portion of the race this time, but figured the Chariot would be good just in case...I certainly couldn't carry both kids if Ryder ran out of steam, plus we had some friends joining us and this way every kid had options!

 

I didn't put Payton in the backpack until we were ready to cross the start line as I didn't want her to get tired of her "ride" too early. She had a blast walking up and down the start area checking out all the other "racers." She looked so stinkin' cute in her tutu!

 My Boy ready to run!

 Getting into race position.

 Ryder didn't walk/run the whole 5km. He has a nasty cold and kept coughing, so he rode a little, walked a little, snacked a little...

 waded in puddles a little..

 ..jumped off the curb into puddles a little...

 ..and high fived police officers a little.

 We crossed the finish line all together. I thought I would pull Payton out of the pack so that she could "walk" with us across the finish line, but she just wanted to push the chariot...I love the "I need to push everything" stage. So adorable!!

It was a fantastic day, the sun shone, the smiles were plenty, my card has a Starbucks card in it and my dinner plate was filled with chocolate chip pancakes made for me by Marty and Ryder, as per tradition! Yummmy!!!! 

My heart is full!! Thank you to my Family for spoiling me and thank you to my own Mom for being an amazing example of what a good, fun Mom should be like! I hope my kids grow up to love me like I love you!!

Kiss your babies, count your blessings and celebrate your Mommas!!!

ALMOST MAY

I really, truly am trying to make time to write weekly, but life keeps getting in the way...that's a good thing, right?! We are too busy having fun and/or recovering from tantrums to have much time to do anything else, let alone write.
The last time I wrote we were about to celebrate Easter, which we did with Mom and Nic.  Ryder ended up getting sick again (remember his fever at Christmas?) This time he didnt' have a fever but he wanted to sleep all day Easter Sunday. He kept asking to go "have a nap."
He did perk up enough to find some eggs, but he hardly ate any of the chocolate and has not asked for once piece since then (don't worry, I've eaten all of it by now..it didn't go to waste...)

Saturday, before he got sick, we colored Easter eggs!  Grammy always has the coolest egg decorating kits!

 Payton got into the spirit of hunting for eggs...kind of...mostly she was happy to just shake the plastic eggs and listen to them rattle! Adorable!!

 Ryder's stash! Every egg is full of chocolate..all of which I have eaten....LOL

 Marty had to work Easter Monday, but it was the start of my Spring Break and the sun was shining, so we invited Ryder's buddy Asher, out to the Farm to hang with Uncle Dirt and play trucks in the arena.  Payton is in there like a dirty shirt!!

 We have also been able to play in our awesome back yard a lot now that the snow has melted and the dog poo is cleaned up (Thank you Marty!!)  It's soo cute to see Payton playing with all the toys Ryder loved at her age like this blue wagon.  She prefers to put water in it and splash around where as Ryder wanted to push it everywhere, but they both love it!

The sandbox is always a hit. Payton has a plastic spoon out there that she literally scoops up sand with and feeds herself. I have given up trying to convince her not to do this. Now I just sit and watch as she shovels spoonfuls of CLEAN (is there such a thing?) sand into her mouth!

It's also fun to spend time out front watching for the other kids to come out and play!

Ryder has created quite a little mud hole in the front too, which has provided lots of good, messy fun!

Payton is only going to be content to watch Ryder bike for so much longer. 

 For now, Payton rides (in the stroller or back pack) while Ryder rides his bike.

And of corse, Scout gets to come on all bike rides!!

When it wasn't warm enough to enjoy outdoor adventures, we made alternative plans like hanging out at the Science Center...always an adventure!

My last day of break, we attended a Birthday party. Ryder insisted on wearing his "Batman" cape and mask to the party. I love that his imagination believes this is a Batman get up even though it's red.  Kids are awesome!

 After the birthday party, we hooked up with Asher's Family and headed to a campground out int he mountains. The campgrounds arn't open yet, so it's safe to bike all over the paved roads around the campsites!

Break time!

 Potty time!

 Bumpers up!!!

 Payton riding her "bike" aka: Daddy!

 This girl ADORES her Daddy!!

Monday was Ryder's first Soccer game. I signed up to coach, though I've never played real soccer before. I love kids and and figured I could offer my kid experience to the other coach, who thankfully is alot more skilled!

 Ryder is stinkin' adorable in his soccer gear!

Now that I am finally publishing this blog it is no longer "Almost May" it is May, so I'm going to sign off and try to write another post before June!!!

Kiss your babies, count your blessings and stop all soccer games to watch helicopters whenever they pass overhead. 

ONE ROUGH MONTH!

I LOVE this picture! How could I not? Ryder is smiling.
He's so stinkin' happy here and when he's happy, he's soooo much fun!!

Unfortunately ever since Marty took a raisin from the box after helping Ryder open it, (that's right, I'm gonna totally blame Marty, not the fact that Ryder is an irrational three year old,) the smiles have been upside down in frowns more frequently than usual.
Ok, if I'm being honest, the frowns are more like open mouthed, high pitched instruments that never stop being played at top volume.  The song is one that is on repeat. One you wish you could turn off. One that is NOT happy!! 
Ah, the melt down...Ryder is mastering it, however as he gets better at his epic melt downs, We seem to be running out of strategies to effectively handle them...if there is such a thing. I take solace in the memory that when Ryder turned two the meltdowns were frequent (and often kinda funny, to Marty and I, though we never let Ryder know that) but they ended after a few short months. He seemed to have given up melt downs for a while...then Marty took the raisin and things have not been the same since! Ha ha! Ofcorse I know it's not Marty or the raisin that caused the frequency of tantrums to increase, it's the fact that Ryder turned three and he has red hair! ha ha!!  At least that's what I thought the problem was...then we discovered that he had a huge, gross skin infection under the band aid he refused to take off for weeks! Ummm ewwwww! Thank goodness Grampa discovered that. Now I'd like to think all this crankiness has been due to his poor little body fighting infection...except his on medication and the tantrums have not fully stopped.....

Anyway, I am days away from Spring Break and am so looking forward to regrouping. :)
In between tantrums (mostly they happen in the evenings, isn't that what they call the "Witching Hour?) we've had a lot of fun, despite me being back at work!

We've done some biking.

 He has a pedal bike but still prefers his "strider bike"

We've been enjoying meal times though still no teeth!

 After dinner hair!

 It snowed today, but the sun has shone a little bit, so we've had some adventures outside.

 Payton follows Ryder everywhere!

 Grampa came to visit and he brought a Super Hero Cape from he and GG!

 

We started gymnastics..unparented!!! Ryder wore his cape there ofcorse!

 We've played in the yard!

And, thankfully, Grampa discovered this gross skin infection under Ryder's beloved band aid!!  I took him to the walk in clinic (it was a Sunday) and now he's taking medicine. This wasn't one of the fun things, but we got donuts after the doctor's and that was fun!
I hope the meds clear this up, it sure stinks and looks awful. Doesn't seem to bother Ryder at all though, thank God!  
Here's hoping once his lil body is done fighting this infection, he'll be a much happier kid, like he used to be!! :)

It's been a rough month. Lots of changes in routine, but we are slowly adjusting and figuring out just how we are going to make all of this work!!

In a month where our city has seen it's worst Mass murder ever (5 college kids stabbed to death) I can appreciate that tantrums are minor and I am soooo greatful to only have that to deal with. I will take tantrums over any of the other more serious issues we could be dealing with! Thank you, God!!!!

Kiss your babies, count your blessings and remember: this too shall pass!

IT'S APRIL!

April 2nd was Marty's Birthday. It fell right in the middle of my first week back to work. I'd had no time, no paycheck and no sleep for a whole year, but I needed to muster some so that we could celebrate "Daddy."  Even though, Marty and I had already decided to celebrate both our Birthdays together at the end of the month (after I get paid and our Family gets comfortable in our new routine) but I wanted to do something so that Ryder and Payton could celebrate Daddy too....

Ryder picked out a Hockey story book to wrap up as a gift for Daddy and he and Payton helped me pick some Donuts at Tim Horton's to bring home for a Birthday surprise treat.  Ryder was so excited to stick a candle in the sprinkle donut. We sang at the top of our lungs and helped Daddy open his cards and gift.

Marty's Birthday was a highlight in a busy week!  Being back at work after a wonderful year at home with my babies, was a harsh reality.  Don't get me wrong going back to the school was actually kinda fun...but I did miss my own lil ones and I'm still not used to the fact that I only get to see my own kids for 3 or 4 hours before they go to bed...but Spring Break is only 2 weeks away and my first pay check in a year is only 3 weeks away!!!

When I get paid, we can go to Costco again!! I freaking love that place!!

These are the two faces I miss all day while I'm at work!

 

Finally, the sun came out to play!!! We spent the entire morning on our patio watching Payton eat sand, splash in the puddles and wobble around in her rubber boots.  We laughed at Ryder who was sooo happy to have his sandbox open again!

 

We even busted out Ryder's birthday bike, though he is reluctant to give up his "Run bike." He's not sure about pedals, but we convinced him to give it a whirl!

 Payton changed outfits at least 10 times today. She kept finding ways to get covered in sand and water. She even dumped the entire dog water dish on herself. She was so proud and just sat there splashing around in it...I love my messy lil raggamuffin!

Look at this happy little cutie pie!!

Life as we know it is changing around here, now that I'm back at work. Here's hoping I get better at balancing everything...now I better get to bed, it's Monday tomorrow!!!!

Kiss your babies, count your blessings and go ahead, eat some sand, drink from the dog dish...toddlers do it all the time!! LOL