7.7.12

Playing at the new water table.

Bird watching...or something.

Oh, well here's a happy bunch.

Getting the marshmallows ready for s'mores!

Break time in the hammock.

We had a wonderful day outside today.  Josh worked the morning doing traffic for the triathlon, so the kids and I just hung out inside until lunch.  We went and did our grocery shopping afterwards, and I'm surprised it wasn't more of a gong show - Saturday afternoons at Superstore are usually um....hectic.  When we got home, we headed outside.  Played with the new water table, on the play structure, made hot dogs for supper, set up the hammock (which is right beside a rose bush ripe with bees), finally had a fire in our fire pit and made s'mores and roasted marshmallows.  After the kids went to bed, we headed back out for a while, but Paige woke up shortly after and was up until 11:30!  Screaming and slapping and throwing her soother...no idea why we're doing this all over again.  It's possible that she's have a reaction to her vaccines, they did say it could take 5-12 days, but who knows?  Hopefully tomorrow is a better day for her - we're off to the zoo!

7.3.12

We were invited to the beach today by Josh's sister, and Wyatt really wanted to go - however, I'm still battling a head cold and have been running a mild fever all day, so the last thing I wanted to do was to go sit on the beach.  Actually, the last thing I wanted to do was to go for a walk, but we DID that and it was horrible.  Way too hot!
Anyway, as a compromise, we inflated the little pool and set it up.  I had also suspected that had we gone to the beach, Wyatt would not have gone into the water at all, and for the $8 (!!!) admission, I'd rather let him play at home.  Paige had a blast in the pool, and Wyatt...well, Wyatt stood in the pool for a bit and then ran around beside the pool. Paige was pouring water on her own head, splashing herself....just a little fish!  Just another thing that they do not have in common - not even in the slightest.
Wyatt and I went back outside after I put Paige to bed, and while he played in his sandbox, I attempted to tame that stupid dogwood in the background of the bottom picture.  After I trimmed it back to a reasonable size, you could see that ants or aphids have completely devoured the bottom of the tree - so I trimmed those pieces off and now it looks quite sparse.  Being that a landscaper lived in this house before us, there are a lot of trees, shrubs and various plants.  I hate most of them.  After trimming that dogwood, I had a rash on both arms from my elbows to fingertips (and I was wearing gloves!).  We also have two massive cedars to contend with sometime this year, and a poplar that was damaged when a portion of our fence caught fire 2 years ago.  I vote for pulling everything out and laying down a rock garden.

7.2.12

We had a lovely thunderstorm this morning/afternoon, so Wyatt and I made cookies.  He decided after the fact that they needed a little something else, and added Smarties for his cookie, my cookie and Daddy's cookie.  Sorry Paige, you had to suffer through a plain chocolate chip oatmeal one. ;)
It's been a bit of a stressful past week, hence the lack of photos.  Paige has been going through a painful phase where she fights bedtime and naptime HARD.  Screaming, pinching, slapping, throwing her soother, etc.  We sleep trained her 6 months ago, and now we can't put her down on her own OR hold her to sleep.  Not sure what else there is??  Today I suggested an earlier bedtime (we usually try for 7), and it seemed to work.  She still woke up an hour after putting her down (something that has been going on for about a month, coinciding with her beginning daycare so it may be separation anxiety related), but went back to sleep quietly and easily.
We were dealt a bit of a blow at the end of the week when the wonderful daycare they've been attending notified me that they will be closing for personal reasons.  I am trying to be understanding, but we've only been given 2 weeks notice, and the daycare situation in the area is SAD.  There are so many people who have "home daycares" but I use the term very loosely.  They get paid to watch your child, but it doesn't really expand past that.  No crafts, special activities, schedules, etc.  I was thrilled with this daycare because they had dedicated the entire basement to be a daycare space.  Wyatt's previous daycare was more....relaxed.  No crafts (at least none that I knew of), no journals outlining what he ate (which wasn't necessary because I sent food with him), no idea if or when he napped unless Josh remembered to ask when he picked Wyatt up - I could go on.  So now I am left scrambling to find an appropriate daycare.  I suppose we could go back to Wyatt's old daycare if necessary, but it's not a place I'd like them to be permanently (plus they have their home for sale and are planning on moving out of province), and I really don't want to have to go through 3 daycares in a year.  Wish there was an easy answer for this one...

6.25.12

Saturday was the fire hall open house/book sale. I was there to help out with the book sale, and also got to watch Josh take part in a vehicle extrication demo. It was pretty neat to see how they take apart a vehicle. And you'll just have to trust me that it's Josh in there.

Removing the windshield. Josh is 3rd from right.

Cutting the front passenger post - Josh is cutting.

Removing the roof.  Josh is...one of those guys.

Taking out the `victim` - Josh is at the front of the gurney.

6.24.12

For Wyatt, it was the Tupperwear cupboard.  And I really didn't care that he'd take out every mother loving container from and line the kitchen floor with them - it was when he started slipping on the lids that he so carefully laid out, that we had to put up the child safety lock.
For Paige, it's a cupboard with glass jars and vases.  And instead of rearranging my kitchen (because that will surely lead to a massive purge, which I didn't have time for), I got Josh to add yet another child safety lock.  We now have 10 of these suckers preventing my children from wrecking havoc, and preventing unwitting guests from being able to put their recycling in the bin should they so choose.  Paige was quick to crawl over to help, and you may be able to spot another small pair of feet between Josh's legs.  Instead of distracting either child, I took a picture.  Because that's what a good wife would do.
(For the record, Paige was removed before any actual drilling occurred).
I had someone tell me the other day that listening to stories that I tell of my life at home with kids is "the best birth control".  I know I am honest about what parenthood is like (because really, it's not all unicorns and rainbows, it's often a lot of excrement.  Literally.) - but I hope I am clear that I LOVE my children, and my children are awesome - people who have kids should be so lucky as to have ones like mine.  Maybe I don't share enough of the good stories, like how Wyatt spontaneously tells me, "I love you SO much, mommy.  The most I can." and how when I hold Paige to put her to sleep, she grabs me by the back of the neck and pulls me in so she can fall asleep with her forehead touching mine.  I'll try to remember to share those stories too, not just the ones about my rashy children who refuse to sleep and throw Hot Wheels at each other.

6.21.12

Today Wyatt and I did a little experiment - coloured vinegar dropped into a pan of baking soda.  It was fun and fizzy and entertained him for a whopping 12 minutes.  "That was fun, but I'm pretty done with it."  Alright then.
This kid has been driving me a little nutty this week - not himself, but what his body is doing.  Tuesday morning, he woke up scratching his stomach - a lot.  To the point that I looked under his shirt.  Looked like about 10 mosquito bites.  That seemed odd to me, that many bug bites in one spot.  So then I started checking other spots, and found the same marks on his feet, knees, hands, elbows, chin and around his eyes.  My first thought was chicken pox (even though he's had the vaccine, it's still possible to get...which is why we didn't want the vaccine, but he got it anyway.  Different story.), then I thought because he had been on amoxicillin, maybe he was having a reaction to that.  I took him to the walk in clinic, and we were told it "might" be a mild case of chicken pox, and likely not a allergic reaction.  That was good enough for me, even by that evening his spots were fading.  After work on Wednesday, I was helping him in the bathroom and noticed a rash on both legs, from butt to knees.  I took pictures, knowing that it could go away quickly (or get worse).  We gave him Benadryl because he was SO itchy, as well as an oatmeal bath, and that seemed to be okay.  Today you could see where the rash was, but he wasn't scratching and it wasn't nearly as rough.  Smooth sailing all the way through today until bedtime.  He started scratching his back, and sure enough, he was getting a rash there too, but this one looked different again.  About an hour later, he was complaining about his legs being itchy, and I noticed that the rash was coming back.  His doctor is kind enough to see us tomorrow even though he's not in clinic, so hopefully we can get some answers.  Wyatt hasn't been on the amoxicillin since Monday, so I don't know if that's even it. :S  These kids cannot seem to catch a break!

6.15.12

Lately dinnertime has involved a lot of hide and seek.

 And a lot of playing with her belly - although today she took it to a new level and rubbed a meatball all over herself.  Delightfully weird child. :)