Going back to work and school

Yup. I'm going back to work at school in the mornings and Chelsea will be going to school full time. My working is really not a big deal - only a few hours a day. However, me going back to work means a lot of different things in this household.

- It means less time lazing around in our jammies. Things really don't get moving in this household until at least after 9... more like 10. Sure, we may be up at 7:30, but out of jammies, hair done, ready for public viewing? No way.

- It means no more flip flops. Well, it should mean no more flip flops but who are we kidding? I'll still wear 'em, but it probably isn't classified as appropriate footwear. Same goes for Chelsea. She adores flip flops, but bare feet in her indoor running shoes isn't comfy.

- It means wearing clothes. UGH. Don't get me wrong. We aren't naked and we wear clothes all the time, but I definitely prefer shorts and tank tops to dress pants and fancy shirts. Just the thought of putting on pants makes me sad. And Chelsea - no more short shorts and summer dresses. Actually having to wear real clothes, possibly even jeans is not something she's looking forward to either!

- It means having to put on eye makeup! In the summer, I really don't need any because I'm always wearing sunglasses. I guess I can't wear my sunglasses inside the school.

- It means having to bathe my children regularly again. Not going to lie - the older two didn't get a lot of baths this summer. Swimming in a pool has to count as getting clean, right?

- It means doing laundry, lots of laundry, again. My kids pretty much lived in swimsuits this summer which totally cut down on the piles of clothes. Now we'll have school clothes and home clothes and gymnastics clothes... Boo.

- It means no more morning playdates, trips to Superstore, mornings at the park, or visits with friends. Eli will also sleep most of the afternoon, so that limits our afternoon plays too.

-  It definitely means more planning, especially when it comes to eating. Chelsea will need a lunch and I'll need something as soon as I get home. Chris should have leftovers or something quick and easy, otherwise he'll resort to smokies, KD, hamburger helper and fast food. I wish I was better at menu planning - I'll really have to make an effort. I know I feel more relaxed when I have a plan, but I just suck at doing them.

- It means a lot of changes. Praying it all goes smoothly!

 

My day

- Today we ran out of toilet paper. Luckily, Eli had already emptied an entire box of Kleenex onto the floor one by one, so we were set. Score one for the misbehaving toddler.
- We had a playdate and picnic with a great friend and her four kids today at the Morden splash park. It was so fun. Of course, this little man found the mud puddles more entertaining than the actual splash park. Score two for the misbehaving toddler?

- Although I love the heat, my boys do not. Chelsea does, but the boys don't, so we've spent a lot of time inside lately. +30 temps just don't make them happy.  I feel like I'm missing out on these last few days of summer.

- I'm looking into fall activities, and I'm trying to find a balance between every activity Chelsea wants to be in and my desperate desire to be a shut in. Haha. It's not quite that bad, but I really am questioning how busy I want us to be. Chelsea would love to do an activity every single day if I let her. Gymnastics, Rhythmic gymnastics, skating, piano, Victory Lane at church... oy vey.

- Gavin is at such a great, easy stage. He is so easy to entertain, loves playing by himself, or with others. If I ever need some time to myself, I just tell him to go play with his Mario figurines. He'll play for hours with those guys. So thankful for that! Eli on the other hand, needs his mama ALL THE TIME. It can be frustrating for sure!

 

And it's time for bed. Glorious sleep. I keep thinking that now that Eli is sleeping through the night, (finally at 13 months) I should be getting caught up on sleep, but that doesn't seem to be the case!

bye bye summer...

- Blogging has taken a bit of a break for me, apparently. I don't have hours to sit down and blog this week because I'm a VBS group leader at our church and so every night this week I was busy putting on a toga, visiting the marketplace and organizing my oikos. Fun, but oh so exhausting!

- Summer has flown by. Wait, let me correct that. The past 14 months have flown by. I can't believe my mat leave is over. So blessed being able to stay home with these three. My heart is so full.

- When I think about sending Chelsea off to a full day of school, I'm sad. I never thought I'd be that kind of mom, as Chelsea is more than ready to spend the day in school. She adores school, begs all summer long to go back, and is such a social girl. We are going to seriously miss her in the afternoons though. Poor Gavin is going to be lonely, but we'll get in some good quality time while Eli naps.

 

- It has been so long since I've blogged, I don't even know what to say. So, I'll just leave a few pictures of my kids and try harder to keep up to date!

9 years, 362 days...

This week, Chris and I are celebrating 10 years of marriage. Ten years! I've been going through pictures and reminiscing and I came across this goofy picture that I sent Chris when we were dating. 

 

 This is a picture that I sent Chris today.

Can't say I didn't warn him... ;)

O is for overalls

So this morning I'm chatting it up with Chelsea and I told her that we need to go to Superstore to try on some jeans so I know what size she is. She says, "Don't bother. I will only wear sweatpants. Not jeans." Then she pauses and says, "Well, I'd wear overalls. I'd wear overalls and sweats every day."

Now, I know she doesn't prefer jeans. For years now, she's loved dresses and tights and skirts and apparently overalls. She's never owned a pair of overalls. Apparently I've been denying her inner fashionista. ;) 

My baby is a whole year.

 I find it fascinating to see the changes that happen during the first year of life. From this...

to this...

 to this gorgeous little man.

From baby to big boy, in the blink of an eye.

 

 Dearest Eli,

You are an absolute ray of sunshine. You are so amazing. You are calm and laid back, yet spunky and busy, all the time. I'm getting glimpses of how your mind works, and I'm pretty sure you are wired like your daddy. You are constantly trying to fit things together and take things apart. You light up when you see him and clap whenever he comes near. You really don't like toys, but would rather play with remotes, screwdrivers, pots and pans, shoes... pretty much anything that isn't a toy.

You are adored by your siblings. Chelsea can't get enough of you - she's always hugging and kissing and loving on you. When you cry, she cries. It's endearing and annoying all rolled into one big tear fest.

Gavin tolerates you, but honestly, he's a little afraid of you. Every time you get near him, you are pulling his hair or tugging at his shirt. I can't wait to see what kind of trouble you boys get into!

 

At one, you are napping for an hour every morning and two every afternoon. You go to sleep at 7 each night, only to wake at 3:00. Daddy goes in and gives you a cup of milk, then you sleep until 6:30. You still nurse first thing in the morning. You would nurse 64x a day if I let you. You are a good eater, providing you can feed yourself. You aren't a fan of being spoon fed.  

 

You started walking a few weeks ago. You went from doing your orangutan-crawl to chasing your brother in one day. You are so fast and so busy. You've also mastered climbing stairs and know not to come down. You will stand at the top of the stairs and call loudly until one of us come to elevator you down.

 

I love you so much. I could snuggle you all day long. Lately, I have this privilege, as you are very much a mama's boy right now. I really am struggling to get anything done, because I have to carry you with me all the time. Teething is awful and you are clingy. However, you are growing so fast that I cherish these times. Soon I will have to go back to work, and I am really struggling with the thought of leaving you all morning. You will be in good hands though.

 

Hey Eli? You pretty much rock. Thanks for being you and for making our family complete. Love you, Little Man!

 





Camping 2013

 We booked a 5 day camping trip this year to Minnedosa. We met my parents there and were visited by an aunt, uncle, cousins and my brother and sister. There was lots of action going on.

Let me just say that I really like camping, which with all my princess-like tendencies, some people may find surprising. I love all the family time and the relaxed sitting around the fire. Well, let me tell you, camping with a one year old is not relaxing. This guy was constantly motoring around the campsite, with a definite preference to the fire pit. I felt like 80% of our weekend was taking turns standing in front of the fire saying, "No Eli" over and over again.

We were lucky enough that my parents had the older two kids sleeping in their camper. This way when Eli woke up a gazillion times during the night, the other two would be able to stay sleeping. I might be slightly exaggerating when I say a gazillion, but at 5:14am, it sure didn't feel like an exaggeration.

 Eli was up very early every morning, and rather than try to force him to go back to sleep, I chose to get up and take him for a walk around the campground and near by cottages. Somehow, he got the better end of this deal - breakfast on the go, cuddly blanket, new sights to see, and alone time with mama.



We really loved the campground and will definitely go back (you know, next year when Eli is a little more relaxed!) There was a beach very close to our campsite and although it wasn't super hot, the kids had fun.

 

Chris always has a good time searching for treasures. Usually it's just coins, pull tabs and bottle caps, but this time he did find a buried hotwheels car that Gavin was super excited to find!

Chelsea and Gavin got to go tubing on the lake behind Grandpa's boat, which was a hit for them. They both enjoyed it! Chris and I did leave the kids with family so that we could do some tubing too. Somehow I managed to really injure myself! I guess crazy watersports at 32 isn't as fun as when you are 16!

Oh, Eli just woke up from his nap so I'll quickly post a few more pictures.

  Oh and a funny story about this girl that gave us all a good chuckle over the weekend.

Our campsite was right next to a playpark that had some old school monkey bars and swings. It also had an old horse toy, very similar to this one.

Well, Chelsea was playing happily and riding that merry little horse, until somehow her hands slipped and she did a face plant into the horse's head and split open the skin above her eyebrow. Being a head wound, there was lots of blood and we were all gathered around, trying to decide if we should go to the hospital and get stitches or if it would be fine. Chelsea was still screaming and crying loudly and once we got her settled down, she declares in an angry voice, "I'm never going to ride that BUCKING horse again!"

We all just burst out laughing. One change of letter in that phrase would have brought on very different results!

Eli is One!

This kid is seriously amazing. He is such perfect fit into our family. I can't believe he's already one! Sometimes I struggle because with him being the baby of three kids, his life is pretty busy! I feel like I haven't had the chance to fully appreciate him as I did with Chelsea when she was an only child. Remember the days of just laying around, cuddling or spending all that one-on-one time? Yeah, Eli doesn't get a lot of that! Good thing he's pretty laid back!

Eli got a water table from us for his birthday. When his older brother moves over enough so Eli can play, he really enjoys it! ;)

We all know I adore throwing crazy parties. We had a circus theme for Eli's birthday, because it really is a three ring circus around here most days! The party was kept really small but of course, I went slightly overboard for his birthday cake, but hey! He's only 1 once!

My favourite part is the hand painted name plate.

Of course, with a circus theme, we did have lots of fun food as well. These little popcorn bags were actually chocolate cupcakes with mini marshmallows twisted into popcorn. They were so cute!

I found giant lollipops at Dollar Tree, so I made cute little labels and they served as party favours.

Ah yes, what is a circus without cotton candy? I purchased some at Dollarama, but I do not recommend you put it on sticks ahead of time. The moisture evaporates quickly and you are left with dark coloured clumps of hard sugar on sticks. Not appealing.

More circus fun. Pinwheels, Pink Elephant candy, candy sticks, jelly beans and peanuts!

Oh and caramel apple slices! I opted for slices, rather than whole apples because who really eats a whole apple. Although it was a good idea in theory, the caramel really didn't stick well on the slices. The juice from the apple made the caramel all watery after a few hours. But they tasted good!

There was a little smash cake as well. I really didn't love the design, but Chelsea and Gavin helped me make it, so it's made with lots of love! Before and after!

Eli seeing his cake for the first time. He was ready to dig in!

Mmmm cake!

I'll end off with these gorgeous images from tlp photography. There will be a one year post on this little man soon!