A Day at the River with the Kiddos

I've had a few questions lately, by non-Facebookers, about what we've been up to this summer and why I haven't been blogging. Rather than resort to the obvious, "I've got a baby and a boy on summer vacation" response, I thought I'd show you.

Steven woke up with a headache yesterday, so the kiddos and I headed out to the local creek for a day of fun in the sun and water. It was awesome. Jonas had a blast playing in the creek, and at the park, and even made a few new friends. Abby spent most of the day babbling while trying to walk, and even had a couple of short naps. I sat watching and joining in the fun, thinking the entire time that life is good!

A quick peak at our day:

bacpacboy playing in the river:

We're into the final week of Jonas's summer vacation and we're trying to make the most of it with lots of outdoor together time. His summer To Do List isn't complete yet, but with a little cooperation from Mother Nature, we might be able to squeeze them all in. Cross your fingers and I'll see you again in September.

Cheers!

Checking In

This is Jacqui, checking in. No, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth or succumbed to post-partum depression. A baby who's trying her darnedest to walk and never sleep, and a ten year old who never seems to stop even when he's asleep, sure do keep a mom busy. Life threw us a little curve when Steven lost his job in April, but we've been trying to make the most of our time together before Jonas goes back to school in September.

While Steven has been job hunting, the kids and I have been trying to get out of the house every day and enjoy the summer. It's been a busy one, with lots of hiking, picnics, swimming, rolling and general summer fun. (Jonas even got his first hockey concussion when he took a stick in the mouth while playing road hockey.) Though we missed a couple of Scout camps that we were really looking forward to, and Jonas, Tasha and Jake are still trying to organize their "no parents allowed" camp, Jonas and I did get a couple of overnighters in as well, with another hopefully coming after we get back from the cottage.

I've turned into the paparazzi, and taken a thousand pictures of our adventures. I'm trying my hand at a little videography too. Here's a link to my youtube channel if you're interested in seeing what we're up to in a little more vivid way:

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCT9fpZEy5XSWkYy7sgz-mSA/videos


We're off tomorrow morning for a few days at a cottage my Mother and Father in Law have rented near Sandbanks Provincial Park. I think Jonas is having a good summer with our adventures, and going to summer day camp, but he's still got a pretty long list of things he wants to do so I think it'll be a frantic finish for the last couple of weeks of summer before school starts.

Whatever you're up to, I hope you're having fun!

Cheers!

We Interrupt This Life...

It's been a long time since I last blogged. Life has thrown me a little curve ball, in the form of a dental nightmare. I had some issues arise while I was pregnant, that needed to wait until Abby was here and weaned to address. I've been in the chair four times in the past two weeks, and I go again tomorrow for two i.v. sedated extractions. Hopefully, that will put the worst of it behind. My life has come to an almost complete standstill the past week and a bit. The upside, if there is one, is that the pain has actually overridden my fear of the dentist.

Cheers!

Life Update

Wow! Time is flying by!

Abby is almost three months old, and in some ways, it feels like one really long day. A lot has happened in three months though. She's changing every day. Smiling, cooing, controlling her reflexes, finding her hands, holding up her head and torso, rolling over, sitting up, comforting herself... babies sure have a lot to learn in their first few months!

Jonas is a going concern too. Homework and school projects, learning to use his new laptop, getting back into Cub Scouts, getting back outside with the kids in the neighbourhood, learning to better manage his ADHD, occupational therapy... Only a few months left of Grade Four and he's trying to finish strong. Plans are starting to form for summer vacation too.

Tasha's making plans of her own for the coming months. Shifting to working in the garden centre always seems to perk her up, and she's currently apartment hunting with a friend for something a little bigger. It's not easy being on your own, as she's finding out, but we're really proud of how well she's hanging in there.

Steve, and the rest of us, are adjusting to another big life change: he lost his job last week. Thankfully he got a severance package, so we're not in crisis mode yet. He's got some time to decompress, refocus and find something new. In some ways, it's a blessing. The timing is oddly perfect. It gives him more time with kiddos during this important time in their lives, and since the school year is almost over, he has more geographic options when job searching. We're trying to think of it as a chance for a new beginning. Of course, he's been home for two weeks now and the home improvement projects, as well as their subsequent frustrations, are multiplying, so keep your fingers crossed for us. ;)

As for me, other than a slight fear of impending construction nightmares, I'm a tired but happy mama. The Spring sun, and the possibility of getting outside for some fresh air and exercise doesn't hurt morale. The now looming date on the calendar (when Steve's severance runs out) is, admittedly, a little stressful, but I'm an optimist at heart. Steve's a good guy and a good worker. He'll find another job soon, and we've been working hard to chip away at our debt, so I have faith that everything will work out just fine.

What is it they say - "The universe never gives us more than we can handle"?

Cheers!

Wordless Wednesday: Family Photos

A special thank you today, to my Sister-in_law, Anne for these amazing family pictures.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter from our family to yours!

A Day in the New Life

Jonas, Abby and I spent a wonderful day together yesterday. They both had to see their pediatrician in Toronto - Jonas to check his weight and do an ADHD and med review, and Abby for her first immunizations. It went really well, although Abby might debate that if she could talk.  ;)

When we left the doctor's office, we walked out into a beautiful Spring day. The kind of day I've been waiting for for months. The kind of day where we could get outside and enjoy what Mother Nature has to offer. So, we had a quick lunch and then headed home to hit one of our local bike trails for some exercise in the fresh air and sunshine.

While Jonas got his bike, I loaded the jogging stroller with Abby, a diaper bag, a bottle of formula for Abby, a bottle of water for us, an extra blanket and our jackets. It took a little longer than we've become accustomed to, but eventually we were off!

WEEEEE!!!

The trail was soaked (but not completely swamped) and there were still snowy patches, but the birds were chirping and the sun was shining.  Jonas climbed a tree, we found all kinds of treasures, picked up some garbage, collected some tinder for our next campfire, threw sticks into the hugest puddle either of us has ever seen, stopped at the park for a while, let Abby feel the sunlight on her face without any barriers between them for the first time ever, and generally enjoyed a wonderful afternoon together.

 

 

 

After dinner, we settled into an evening that was a mish-mash of predictable and unexpected. Here's a quick recap:

The Night After

8:00 pm - Jonas gets ready for bed
8:01 pm - Jonas comes to me in a panic because he can't find Teddy
8:03 pm - we realize that we lost Teddy on our walk
8:04 pm - Jonas and I get our boots and coats on, grab our flashlights, get in the Jeep and head out on a Search and Rescue mission
8:13 pm  - We see Teddy at the trail head
8:13.01 pm - Boy and Bear are reunited
8:14 pm - We get back in the Jeep and head for home
8:15 pm - I laugh when, as he apologizes to Teddy for being left out in the cold dark night all by himself, Jonas says "I'm sorry Mumm-ah lost you." 

I'm not sure why it was my fault, but thankfully, we moms seem to come with built-in GPS system
that tracks every item that ever comes into the lives of our children (and spouses)
All I can say is "PHEW!!!!!!!"

8:18 pm -  We arrive back home and start Jonas & Teddy's bedtime routine a second time
8:47 pm - I kiss Jonas good night and head back downstairs 

8:48 pm  - I relieve Steve from a crabby Abby and Steve attempts to fix the household computers, which have decided that they hate me
9:27 pm - Steve declares the computers fixed and relieves me from a crabby Abby
9:45 pm - I give up on what I'm, trying to do on the computer and go for a bath
10:15 pm - I rejoin Steve and Abby on the living room couch to watch a movie
11:00 pm - Abby is asleep but my headache is now screaming instead of whispering so I go to bed
1:01 am - Steve puts Abby in her cradle and cuddles up with me
1:01.01am - I bolt upright, trying not scream, because my loving husband is like an ice cube
1:04 am - Steve and I finally get spooned nicely and drift off to sleep
3:20 am - Abby starts to stir so I start the "SHH!" + rocking + bottle routine
3:45 am - Jonas wakes up and crawls into our bed with Steve
4:00 am - Abby is not buying what I'm selling and Jonas and Steve are both snoring. There's no room in my bed for me anyway so I take Abby downstairs to continue the "SHH!" + snuggle + bottle routine
4:47 am - Everyone is asleep but me and my headache is back.

CHEERS!