Blessed

So, I must admit that I sometimes like to have a pity party and see my glass half empty.  I sometimes start to feel sorry for myself, of course about the big things like being away from family and friends, but also the smaller things, like not having had White Spot for 9 months!  But when I get out of my funk, I realize that my glass isn't just half full but it's more than full, overflowing with so many blessings. 

 

 

 

 

When I look around, I can't help but see how much I have been blessed.  I have three wonderful, healthy, happy children.  I have spent more than half my life with the man of my dreams.  And, the sky is blue and the sun is shining!

 

(Photo credit - Danielle G.)



Our princess is 1!

 

Yes, what you've heard is true - our baby girl is one!  I've tried to cherish every moment with each child, freeze framing every perfect memory in my mind, realizing that 'time is but a fleeting moment'.  With each child, it seems that my sadness of my babies growing up magnifies.  So with my third and final baby, celebrating her first birthday was bittersweet; wonderful as we celebrate the blessing she is and the joy that she brings to our lives but sad at the realization that she is growing up too quickly.  One year later, we are still head over heals in love.

To celebrate our birthday girl, we had a special dinner out as a family.

 

 

(Josh even tried calamari and liked it!)

 

 

 

We also had a little party at home.

 

(A butterfly cake is fitting for our social butterfly!)

 

Of course, since she has two older brothers to keep up with, Megan is determined not to be a baby.  She is starting to walk all over the place now, desperately trying to get into everything that she knows she is not supposed to.  Megan has a wonderful sense of humour and a jolly, belly laugh that gives Santa a run for his money.  She is a social butterfly and is always eager to have someone to talk to or play with.

This chair is her new favourite toy.

She likes to 'help' by unloading the dishwasher.

 

She loves playing the piano.

 

 

Trick or Treat x 3

This year, we were lucky enough to have a superhero to keep our zoo animals in line.

A happy halloween was had by all. 

 

The rain didn't stop them. It was actually quite nastalgic for me as Mike carried the big umbrella around; it reminded me of almost every year as a kid trick or treating that my dad would tirelessly hold the umbrella over us to keep our amazing costumes that my mom had made us from getting wet. I would have to say that despite the rain, I found trick or treating this year much more enjoyable than last year since I wasn't in labour.

 

It was quite funny because Megan quickly figured out what was going on.  After a few doors, she was reaching for the candy from the bowl.  When we got home, she was trying to grab her bag of treats off of the table.  When we finally gave her a box of raisins from her stash, she was so excited and gobbled them up like there was no tomorrow. 
Josh has been spending his spare time today counting and organizing his treats; a boy after my own heart.  Now to start thinking about next year's costumes!

Happy 3rd birthday, cuddlebug

 

 

Yes, it's true.  My baby boy is 3.  He loves colouring, sports and helping me bake.  He is fiercely independent and insists on picking out his own clothes.  He is actually pretty good at coordinating his outfits.  One time Josh mused, 'I don't know how he does it'.  He has become quite the chatterbox and is convinced that dogs eat people.  Whenever he walks by a dog or shares the elevator with one, he always comments, 'look, the doggy didn't eat me'. 
Although he is growing up too quickly, he is still my cuddly one.  He lets me hold him like a baby and cuddle him and often will come over and give me a big hug, take my face in his hands and say 'I yuv you, mommy'.  Yes, it melts my heart everytime!

This birthday, we gave Owen the choice of having a party or going and staying at a hotel with a pool.  With some encouragement from Mike, Josh and I, he chose a hotel.  I thought we would just go to a hotel in Niagara Falls but then my brother was going on and on about their trip to the Great Wolf Lodge this summer and how much fun it was.  It got me thinking about going there because I knew it would be fabulous but it was so expensive for a Friday night that it was hard to justify.  Then, one of my daily deals had a deal for Great Wolf Lodge and I knew it was meant to be!  So, this past weekend, we went to the Great Wolf Lodge and had an amazing time.  It was worth every penny and we are all talking about the next time we go!

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Running Buddies

During the school year, Owen, Megan and I started a lovely running routine.  We have the luxury of living right across from the lake and having a wonderful running path at our doorstep so after dropping Josh off at school in the afternoon, we would head out for a run.  I wasn't allowed to start running until Owen said 'ready, set, go' and then he would cheer me on and tell me that I was running so fast; yes, the encouragement of a two year old!  The kids look forward to our runs as much as I do.

Most runs ended with both kids sleeping!



If there was a day that for some reason we weren't going for a run, Owen would complain and then insist on doing the '30 day shred' video. 

(Megan's post run workout)



Over the summer, Josh has had a few weeks of summer camp so we have been able to keep up our routine.  Josh has almost mastered his two wheeler so pretty soon he will be joining us for our runs, pedalling alongside the stroller.
Apparently my running is really going to take me places.  Tonight when I was getting ready for my run, Josh told me that I should train for the Olympics.  I told him that I wasn't quite fast enough for the Olympics.  His reply was 'that's okay Mom, you can do high jump instead'.

Kids CBC day

Since we only live a few blocks away from CBC (we definitely are living in the center of it all), the kids and I decided to walk up and enjoy an action packed day at Kids CBC day.  There was lots of live entertainment and tons of fun activities for the kids to do.  It was definitely one of the highlights of our summer so far. 

(playing dressup)

(sorting numbers with Mathsquad)

We watched a live performance of 'Artzooka' with Jeremie, which is one of Josh's favourite shows.  We even got to meet Jeremie afterwards; Josh couldn't believe that Jeremie was a real person. 

We also got to see a performance by The Doodlebops and again Josh was amazed that they were real people!

If you are a child of the '80's and like me, looked forward to 10:30am each morning when Mr. Dressup came on, these pictures will take you down memory lane (sniff,sniff).

The beloved tickle trunk!