Lots of Milestones!

The boys are growing so fast! This week was full of firsts, especially for my little Malachi. I've been thinking for a few weeks how much I wanted to potty train him, but kept telling myself that he was still young and not to push it. With Jericho I pushed and he wasn't ready. On Monday morning we woke up and I asked him if he wanted to try underwear. He's worn them off and on without much success, but I told him he could get treats for keeping them clean and dry, as well as for going on the potty. I then left for work : )

I didn't have very high hopes for the process. I figured he would be back in diapers by the time I returned home for lunch. Imagine my surprise when I find out he didn't want to go back and had amazing success! I decided we weren't going back. So long diapers! Bye-bye change table! Wow, you have no idea how great that feels! He's done so good. Two accidents today and only after supper. I think he was tired, and the one time he was outside having fun.

We decided to purchase a bunk bed for the boys while we were out on Saturday. We've been trying to figure out what would work best, but the selling point was Jericho remembering how much fun he had in the bunk bed in Thailand. He insisted that we should buy them a 'ladder bed'. It was a good deal and there was a sale on the mattresses - so we got the nice ones that enabled them to sleep in this morning!

I was out the first night they went to sleep in them, but apparently they were so excited that sleep came quickly. Tonight they both came running out and said they had heard a noise, but once I told them the door would be closed once they came out again that was it.

I'm proud of them. Proud that Kai is excited about wearing underwear and breezing through potty training like a champ. I'm proud of Jericho for sleeping in the top bunk, I'm proud that he cheers his brothers progress... I'm just proud.

Jericho's been into telling 'knock knock' jokes lately, anyone have some good ones for me to pass on?

Thailand 2010

It seems like just a few short months ago we received a phone call from my sister-in-law that her and her boyfriend were going to be married. We actually heard lots of big news that day. Not only were they getting married, but they were expecting their first child together! Matt & Christa also told us about their impending arrival that day as well. That day is etched in my mind for good reason, I get excited about hearing about new babies & weddings!

As the planning for this wedding progressed, it came to pass that the affair would take place about 11,000 kilometres away in a place that I honestly had no desire to visit. Thailand. It scared the crap out of me. I tried endlessly to convince my husband to leave the children at home. There were just too many variables I couldn't count on and I wasn't sure what to do. In the end he convinced me that the best place for them is where we are, especially since his sister asked if they could possibly be in the wedding! The thought of having them perform ring bearers duties for the first time was quite a draw for me, surprisingly.

I decided it wouldn't be so bad if I could do as much smart preparation as possible. We talked of Thailand with the boys often. They knew we were going to ride elephants. They knew we were going to go on a long, long, long airplane ride. They knew who was going to come with us - several family members they don't see enough of... I read books of all sorts on travelling with toddlers/children/crazy boys. I learned about new products, about the wisdom of drugging my children, etc. I was inundated with information I hoped was helpful. Basically I worked hard at having an idea of what I was up against. I even went on the radio and talked to Claire Newell about it. She told me to 1. Leave the kids at home and 2. Bring everything but the kitchen sink. Claire was partly wrong.

We parred down. We brought no sling, carrier, stroller, carseats, playpen, or large toys. I was happy not to have an infant to be able to get away with that - and honestly we didn't miss any of it! Walking through the airport was almost a breeze. The boys each had those nasty backpack leashes which I detest, but they felt necessary. I felt good each time we went through security and never felt like I held up the line, or that the process of going through was a pain. I just put our carry-ons up, took each backpack off each child and walked right through. Amazing! My father-in-law had more trouble, but he has a system : )

I guess what I'm trying to say is at the end of reading all I did and experiencing what I already had previously, I tried to pack smart and prepare smart. Some would think it would be better to bring everything in case you needed it, not so. We found it was so much easier to travel with less and if we needed something, we would just buy it there or rent it - especially since everything was so cheap!

The preparation majorly paid off! As we landed in Hong Kong after a 13.5 hour flight, my lovely 3 year old son turned to his Daddy and said, "Thank-you Daddy for taking me on this airplane ride!" He was honestly happy as a lark to be up there. I never heard him cry. Malachi cried for about 20 minutes the whole flight. Other than that they played, watched DVD's, played on Daddy's iTouch, went for walks, and slept. I have never experienced a better flight with them. NEVER. And they've been to Ontario (2x), Minnesota, Hawaii, & Mexico.

Once we were actually in Thailand, it was easy to get into vacation mode. The first few days in Koh Samui I never left the resort. I stayed by the pool, by the beach, and in the beautiful air conditioned villa. I loved it. I would go back in a heartbeat, but this time I would work harder to convince Nate to leave the boys at home! As good as they were, and as much as I agreed in the end that it was a good decision to bring them.. When I got back home I felt like I needed "Nate time" We were constantly taking turns with the boys doing this or that and I just missed him in the end. Of the whole 2 and a half weeks we were away, Nate and I went out for dinner once. That was mainly our choice. My in-laws likely will never get a chance like that to visit Thailand again. I didn't want them watching the boys. I wanted them to enjoy their vacation and enjoy spending time with their own children.

I will say I haven't slept like that in ages. There was only one night that Nate & I were up past 11 - save for late night flights - other than that we were early to bed and late to get up. We actually might buy a new bed, king size : )

The boys were the best ring bearers.. if you know of anyone looking for two beautiful boys to walk down the aisle on that special day - seriously!! They wore their matching black short suits with vests, held hands, waved to the guests and excitedly strolled in bare feet in the sand. I was so proud to call them mine.

Thailand to me was serenely gorgeous. She was familiar, but vastly different from anywhere I've ever visited. She was friendly, but sometimes for the wrong reasons. The food was outstanding, and it created a hunger for more authentic Thai dishes once I was home. Thailand may have been a place I never intended to visit, but it became a dream I couldn't seem to wake from.

I have to thank my sister in law. Without her, I don't know if I ever would have decided to take a chance on visiting this place that now I have so many fun memories of. My kids now have pictures of themselves holding a baby Tiger, of riding an elephant, and of a ride on a tuk-tuk not to be forgotten.

The pictures really don't do it justice, but I'll try.

400th Post!

400 posts ago, I was excited to be expecting my first child 4 years ago. To say that 'time flies' seems like a vast understatement. Sometimes I just want to grab hold of a moment and never let it go. I adore my two little boys and spending time with them, just cuddling and reading... playing with trains or pretending to be lions. The laughter that emanates from this home while I run with Kai and chase Jericho is soul-soothing. My kids love to have fun and they love their Mommy. I knew today was going to be a great day when I woke up to Jericho saying "Mommy, you are the best Mommy in the whole world!" I don't know about that, but I like that he thinks so.

Nate and I went to try and experience some of the Winter Olympic excitement for Valentines Day and headed to Vancouver. On the way there we realized it was our 7th Valentines day together. Our very first February 14th I believe was spent walking the beach in White Rock. We'd only been dating for one month and 2 days and were in that blissful in love stage. We're still very much in love, but it's so different. It's like learning as much as you can about a person in 7 years and realizing that the more you know, the more you know you just can't be without him or her. Nate is awesome. People who know him well, know that he cares deeply, lives fully, and laughs often. That was a big sidebar... Anyway, we ended up in Vancouver and were able to celebrate with thousands of excited Canadians as we won our very first gold medal while being a host Olympic nation! It was electric! We happily just walked around and took in as much as we could in 4 hours. Nina was home with the boys, which was so nice of her. : )

I've been trying to get as much 'stuff' together for our Thailand departure, leaving in exactly 8 days. Last night I was able to pack up most of the boys clothing and toys. I'm having trouble deciding which bags/suitcases/backpacks to use for carry-ons. Once I decide that I can start adding or subtracting the stockpiled items. I have sticker books, DVD's, a travel pack from Aunt Noelene for toddlers, crayons, wipe clean dry erase books, sticky notes, and some little toy animals. There's plenty of random stuff that I just can't remember at this point, but basically I have a lot. I've tried to think strategically - I don't want to bring EVERYTHING. There will be things I can get there if I need them.

Tonight, as I listen to Kai crying almost 2 hours after he went to bed - still hasn't fallen asleep yet - I rest. I relax and just watch the Olympics and try not to think about everything I still have yet to do. I'm tired and have a number of things to get done at work this week as well. So I'd rather just not think and allow my brain to turn to mush.

A final thought: If you are wanting to delete friends on Facebook, don't ask people to send you a message or change your status to, "If you want to still be my friend, comment on this status." It's a new pet peeve. For one, some of the settings on FB don't allow you to see all your friends status's. Also, if you want to delete someone - don't delete them just for not responding to a status like that. Sorry for the rant, it doesn't apply to anyone who reads this. You faithful few I hold dear. : )

Criminal Minds

I am watching the last episode of Season 2 with my husband. Officially hooked. I gave him the first 3 Seasons for Christmas and now we watch them together late at night when really, we should be sleeping!!!

From Jericho & Malachi

We're going to be ringbearers in 39 days : )

How do you like our outfits, Mommy found them on ebay.

January 22, 2010

Today was nuts.

I woke up, I made breakfast, showered with a child, waited for the babysitter, kissed my husband, left for work, decided which task was most important, chose wrong, went to the notary, finished a few ROE's for laid-off employees, had lunch with my kids & niece, changed a diaper, back to work to try and complete the largest task of the day, got yelled at, yelled back, saw Nicole, realized I should have hugged Nicole, talked to Nate on the phone, talked to an idiot on the phone, made plans for the evening, received several text messages, didn't respond to all of them, gave hi-fives to Christa when largest task was finally completed, got home at 4:30 pm, hugged the boys, kissed the boys, decided not to go to Curves until tomorrow, sent Nate for groceries for dinner guest, received a phone call to expect 3 instead of one guest, tried to let Nate know and was unsuccessful, helped make dinner, had company, ate too much, had dessert, decided yet again to go to Curves tomorrow, took fun pictures of the boys jumping on the couch, made sure everyone avoided injury, gave out night-night kisses, and then sat down to computer time.

It looks even shorter than it felt.

I'm still here

Life has become crazy. I am in the midst of planning to cart two children off to South Asia while the rest of my city will be embroiled in the middle of the 2010 Winter Olympics. I also finished off year end for my work, working on letting everyone about my Discovery Toys sale, and trying to spend as much time with the boys as I can.

I've had a few emotional moments these last few weeks just thinking about them. I adore them. They bring me so much joy, but I struggle with my decisions as of late. Do I really want to be working so much when they are at such a fragile age? Especially now that my office has moved from out of my home, I find I miss them that much more. I've cried a few times about it, but I also know that when I'm home all the time they drive me completely nuts and this time apart has made me realize how nuts I am about them both. Something about absence and growing fonder? I guess I just need to really think about these next few months and how important is it for me to be working? I've always thought I would be a stay-at-home Mom and for the most part I think I am. I sometimes forget that I'm gone for about 20 hours on average per week not being with them. I do enjoy working, for the most part... which is what I think most people would say. I've learned a lot and come to realize that I'm pretty good at what I do.

As for planning for our trip, things are really coming together. I've tried to think strategically about what I'll spend our money on. I've rented CARES, these fancy straps that you can bring onto the airline instead of lugging around carseats. That saves some frustration. I also booked flights from YVR to Bangkok with a 12 hour layover in Hong Kong right at bedtime Hong Kong time. I'm figuring (fingers crossed here people!!) that by the time we complete our 14 hour flight to HK, everyone in my little group will be exhausted. It seemed to make sense to try and get caught up on some sleep and try and eliminate some jet lag. I rented a hotel RIGHT next to the airport, even though it's the MARRIOTT and a little more than I'd like to spend.

Thinking about everything should make me freak out and get stressed, but for the most part I'm just excited to go and hang out at the beach, play with the boys in the sand... oh - and go to a wedding! The boys have their matching short suits on the way - purchased on ebay. As soon as they arrive I'll have to post pictures.

Does anyone have any suggestions for me for things I should keep in mind, or bring along on our adventure?

Blog Fast

Don't worry, the title does not refer to my future blogging tendencies. It's only a nod to the fact that I've been lame lately in updating my life on here. To say it's been a crazy month and a half would be a harsh understatement.

There was Jericho's 3rd birthday, which was fun. I had struggled with whether or not to invite his entire preschool class or not. I decided on the not. We chose one little GIRL from class to invite and her name is Chelsey. Apparently he likes how she plays nicely with him. We also had Tasia, Cameron, Josh, Malachi, Daveigh, & Rachel. I was happy with how everyone played well together and there weren't any meltdowns. Maybe next year.

Also, Nate's been away a few times since I blogged last. I was finding it easier each time he went to deal with the boys and life on my own, but this last trip was incredibly difficult. The boys were sick, I was over-tired and trying to take on too much. My dad even called Nate to let him know that I really, really missed him.

Another update on our life is the addition of a family member. My sister had a baby girl on November 30th and they named her Nya. She's utterly beautiful. I've only held her once due to the illness that has been plaguing my family and I'm going through withdrawl.

Besides the sickness that really I don't want to talk about at all - the boys have been wonderful lately. I'm enjoying this stage of life with them, where they are beginning to get very independent and wanting to try things themselves. They are also having some really fun moments where they imagine driving a bus in a cardboard box together, or they play hide-n-seek or they spend time just playing with the trains, until they want the same one, that is.

Malachi adores his big brother. Anything Jericho is playing with, he wants to do it too. He wants to be just like him and do certain things he may not quite be ready for. Like go to preschool, be potty trained (which we have started on with some success), and wave goodbye to his naptime. The most interesting thing I've noticed about my second son, however is his extreme devotion to independence. If, for example, I have been a nice Mommy and given him a nicely peeled and sectioned orange, he will freak. He will completely refuse to eat it. Not happening. He must be allowed the opportunity to peel said orange on his own - COMPLETELY, and since he has trouble with the sectioning part, he MUST eat it like you would an apple. Any veering off from this plan of his on my part and watch out.

They both are into painting lately. We have some Chinet plates that we squirt paint into and they either get blanks pages or colouring sheets and go to town. They would paint all day if I let them. But the mess does wear me out sometimes.

I've been quite involved in selling Discovery Toys. I started October 1st and have met every goal set before me so far. I enjoy it actually. The toys are fun and the boys love the fact that they have all this extra stuff to play with.

I just can't believe that Christmas is coming so fast. I've bought for only a handful of people so far, but that's the story of my life. I always leave it to the last minute. I think it's because I have to be in the mood and that doesn't usually happen until December 1st.

Anyway, my husband is home and neither of us are working so I think I'm going to go sit with him a spell.

You are welcome for the update, sorry it took so long.

Motherhood

My boys are without a doubt, two of the beautiful and amazing little people I have ever encountered. They are my greatest accomplishment and they aren't even close to kindergarten yet.

I received the proofs for Jericho's preschool pictures and they are awesome. I don't know which background to pick. I also can't decide which sizes to get and how many... Do I get the memory matte? Do I really need an 8x10? How many people need a wallet sized (albeit adorable) picture of my son?

Tomorrow I'm going to the West Coast Womens Fair and working the Discovery Toys booth. I'm a little nervous.. I really need to study up on stuff so I can recommend items.

And I really should go to bed!

Remembering Being Weird.

An old post from an old blog:

Dated January 9th, 2006

Last night and this morning...

So I didn't sleep well last night. I dreamt that my family (being mom & dad and 4 siblings) went on this vacation to some volitile country. My brother Matt had to come home early and then something bad happened and I was the only one to make it back. I remember going to someone's house and being all dirty because I had fought my way back to civilization. How tragic.

And I kept waking up last night and not being able to get back to sleep. I told Nate that our mattress really needs to be turned over as I have found a divet and keep falling back into it.

Then this morning as I was opening the fridge to get my ingredients ready for my killer yogurt-strawberry-kiwi-banana shake, ALAS! One of Nate's diet pop's had exploded and left icy brown residue over everything. It was quite horrific really. So I chipped away at some of it before my tummy rumbled. Then I told Nate I hadn't been able to complete the clean-up, but I have now turned up the temperature in our fridge that was trying to become a freezer.

Do they call those transfreezual's? Who knows.

Another: Dated February 16th, 2006 (around the time Jericho was conceived)

No, I am not pregnant. I knew you would ask with a title like that..but no. I was watching a movie last night with good old Megan Follows where she was a reporter back in the '30's doing a story on how this wealthy lawyer named Charles Millar died and left quite the interesting will. Not only did he stipulate that some stocks in some race track get left to people who didn't approve of gambling....He also left a house to three lawyers who hated each other...The best part was Clause 9 which stated that he would leave the rest of his fortune (about $750,000) to the mother who had the most live children in the 10 years following his death. They had to all be born in Toronto.

There were three frontrunners in the movie: One was French Canadian who felt she had a psychic connection with Mr. Millar. One was an Italian immigrant who's husband was a proud unemployed bum. The third was a woman who had most of the children via different men.

The courts eventually awarded the settlement to 4 Protestant women because they believed that children borne out of wedlock and those born to unachievers also should not count....or something of that nature. I wanted to find out more about what really happened because Nate wouldn't let me watch the rest. I found the whole idea fascinating.


EDITED TO ADD:

One of the contestants, Pauline Clarke, would have won by today's standards, with ten children in ten years. However, not all her children were with the same father. In the process of getting a divorce, she had children with a man who was not her husband - a big mistake in 1930's Toronto.

Another front runner was Lillian Kenney, who had twelve children in ten years. Several of her children died, but because she could not provide death certificates to prove that the children were not stillborn, they were not included in her total.
In the end, both Pauline Clarke and Lillian Kenney were given the sum of $12,500 for their 'effort' in the contest. There was no mention of compensation for pain and suffering.
The remainder was divided up between the four front runners - each had given birth to ten children in the designated time period. The winners were Annie Smith, Kathleen Nagle, Lucy Timleck and Isabel Maclean.
Grace Bagnato also took part in this contest. By 1936 she had had 23 children, of which 12 lived. 9 were eligible, as they were born within the ten-year period October 31, 1926 - October 31, 1936.
She was one baby short of sharing the prize with the other front runners.

Wow, I was sure weird.

New Website

Check out the new Discovery Toys website I have all set-up... it's sparkly! Ok, not really...

discoverytoyslink.com/sarasearle

Discovery Toys

I just recently decided to take a leap into home business once again. A few years ago I sold Avon and enjoyed it to a point. I didn't make any money at all. I'm not really looking to make loads of money or anything like that, but I like that the things I buy to demo, I get to keep for the boys to play with. They already beg to play with "Mommy's toys".

I'm pretty excited about so we'll see!

Thanksgiving was pretty fun, we ended up at my parents place where we had our first "Outdoor Thanksgiving". Their home is under renovations so there's no furniture in the house so we decided to set the turkey up outside... babies and all! It was actually quite cold, but memorable. I had offered to my Dad that we could host it this year if it made it easier, but he seemed insistent and it wasn't until we got there and found out that he had this little adventure planned. He had bought this little trailer that attached to his ride on lawnmower and wanted all the grandkids to come for a ride. They rode around the yard a few times and ended up in his little pumpkin patch that conveniently had 5 pumpkins with one little green one that wasn't quite ready : ) The really little kids didn't really appreciate the ride much, but Jericho and Riley could have stayed in there all day.

My little Malachi is adorable. There are days where he talks like such a little man, then 5 minutes later it's Greek to me and I couldn't translate if I wanted to. Going for car rides now with him is like having my own tour guide. "Car Mommy! Big truck! There excavator! See the puppy! Mommy there trees!" And on and on and on. *sigh*

In regards to my previous post, turns out the little girl named Julie was actually the photographer for the class pictures. That might be why she 'looked like Papa".

Tuesday

This coming Tuesday, right at 8:45 am I'm going to be quickly scanning over Jericho's class list when I drop him off at preschool. Apparently, he's talking about a little girl named "Julie, who looks like Papa, that means she's cute and I like her".

Three is much to early for these sentiments. But, if she does exist, she is really just his friend.

Farmers Market

My dad has been working hard on developing his very own version of Craisins. He takes his very own cranberries and sweetens them with pineapple juice and dries them in his processing plant. Nate and I had gone to the Farmers Market the Saturday before last and noticed that the next Farmers Market was going to focus on cranberries. He asked if I would like to take and sell them for him at the market. Would I! I had to buy packaging and do up some pretty labels, but I loved the challenge and ending up doing very well. We sold about 90 pounds of dried fruit! I'm considering buying more product from Dad and going again this Saturday.

The only thing I didn't like about going to market was that we couldn't bring the boys. They would probably have fun, but it would have been a gong show. Instead, they played with the babysitter and had fun walking to the park. I like hanging out with them on Saturdays.

Jericho is still saying funny things. Yesterday, I asked him what he would like for lunch. "Beaver". Um... we're all out of beaver, can I interest you in meatballs made of cow? I've been telling him this particular story quite a few times. It's a story from when I was 15 and on a missions trip with my Dad in Bolivia. We had gone to these ruins and somehow ended up on the wrong side from where our vehicle was. Dad convinced me to climb this chain link fence as a 'short cut'. Right. So I tell Jericho about how Papa climbed the fence and jumped down and was fine, but how I climbed up and by the time I was at the top, I was overcome with fear and could not move a muscle. Dad kept telling me to jump and that I would be fine, but I just cried. Finally (this is Jericho's favorite part) I decided I would just jump... and I was okay! I was scared for no reason. Tonight I told him the story again and as I was putting him to bed awhile later, he commented that maybe next time I go climbing fences with Papa, that I should pick the smaller fences. That's pretty deep.

My younger cousin Joel and his wife Nicole welcomed Ava before her due date! She's gorgeous and apparently a sweet baby. The boys and I went to visit her and they love her already.

Malachi has missed out on several events lately due to his out-of-character foul moods. He has cried and screamed over the littlest things. I'm not sure if he's really behind on sleep or coming down with something or both.

We have an agreement with my brother and Christa where every Tuesday we take turns watching each other's kids so we can go on date nights. It's worked out great so far. We've gone to a movie, visited friends, etc. I quite enjoy it. And the nights we don't go out, we have a lovely visit from Sophia. Win-win I'm thinking!

Nate's found out that he needs to write an important exam in November so there will be a few days where I'm taking the kids out on exursions without him so he can get a few solid hours of studying in. He's quite nervous about it, but he always does great.

Here are a few pictures of the last few days.

Wake Me Up, When September Ends

I apologize to those people who are like me. To those who check up on the blogs they enjoy reading on an almost daily basis to see if there is finally a new post. I'm sorry for taking so long and for making you wait. It's been a weird month. I decided since there had been so many occurances take place, that I would let you all know in point form. Forgive me.

1. We went up to Penticton towards the end of August to visit a few of our friends up there. It was a fast trip, but awesome. We surprised Dan, rubbed Becky's belly, watched the kids enjoy Casey & Tera's slip and slide, and many other fun things. We truly wish we were able to take more trips like this. Hopefully next summer will be filled with Okanagan visits.

2. Jericho started preschool two weeks ago. His orientation was okay, most of the time he preferred to play with the toys and didn't appreciate 'carpet time' until he played some of the games. His first full day, he cried as I left him. I knew the best thing for him would be for me to just leave, so I did. As I strapped Kai into his seat, I could no longer hear Jericho so as the morning progressed I was just hoping he was having fun. Every day since then has gotten better. He looks forward to it and wakes up early on preschool days to ask "are we going to preschool now?"

3. Jericho says more and more funny things everyday. We were at the library one night and he was being quite a bit louder than I thought was acceptable, so I told him to be quiet. He wanted to know who was sleeping. He also likes to pretend to make soup and serves it to us and tonight he told Nate that it was Elephant Soup. When Nate asked what was in the soup, he said, "Alligator." He's also LOVING playing hide and seek. He'll ask us to hide while he counts and we usually try and make it difficult, but call out to him if he's having trouble. As soon as he finds us, he screams with laughter and then right away says, "Okay, now I hide and you come find me!" Which usually means that he's going to run into the corner in his room and lay on his stomach so WE can't see him. He makes me laugh all the time.

4. Kai is talking up a storm! He doesn't always make sense, but if I guess right, he will smile and say "Uh huh!" He's very good at putting his dishes away right after meals and basically cleaning any sort of mess. He'll say, "Keen UP!" Trains are still one of his favorite toys and it's hilarious to watch him play with the tracks. He'll let the motorized one run on a certain part, then pick it up, move it to another area and let it go a little bit more. It's annoying to him when it travels out of reach so he tries to control where it will go. He almost has all his teeth too! There are a few more coming in, but he's been pretty happy lately so you can't tell.

5. The most difficult part of my life happened during my small hiatus as well. I have a very close-knit family and we lost one of our own on September 11th. Rebekah had been very sick this summer, but no one had any idea that it was as serious as it turned out to be. I've thought a lot about her and what she meant to me and it's still painful to realize she's not around anymore. Some days I'm still in shock, and some days I think of her fondly. I guess I'm really struggling right now with aftershocks. Where do I go from here? How can I ensure that her death was not in vain? What decisions can I make, not only for me and my family, but for others who maybe don't have as loud a voice? I have lots of questions... I was talking to Nate about how I've known people who have passed away before and I've just never been affected as much as I am now. I've seen brevity, I've felt tragedy and heartache. Her funeral was good and it did remind me to be glad as she is in heaven now, but I wasn't ready for her to be there yet.

6. Nate and I decided to go away for the weekend, the day after the funeral. We had been planning it for awhile, but with everything that had happened I wasn't sure it was a good idea. It turned out to be a great decision. I had an awesome weekend with good people who reminded me to smile, not to forget necessarily, but Rebekah would have wanted me to enjoy myself, and I did. We went on a one night cruise from Seattle to Vancouver and spent a night in Seattle before we got on board. I laughed a lot and it was good. The kids were very well looked after and I know I made the right decision to go.

This week I've done a lot of thinking. I know I'm very blessed and extremely fortunate to have ended up with my family, my husband and my children. Because I've seen brevity and felt tragedy to this extent, I thought that maybe I should stop taking them all for granted. Maybe I should take moments and savour them. Maybe I should take all the hugs and kisses I can gather because I don't know when my time is up too.

One more month

In exactly one month from now it will be Jericho's first full day of preschool. Some days I'm excited for him and others I just think I'll really miss him. Like today. He's been sitting right next to me asking for " a little bit more loving". I told him that we would have to buy new things for preschool, like a lunchbox. Then I asked him what he would like to buy and his response was: " a green bus". I think he's hoping he's going to get a cool ride there.

We had company over last night and had some DQ ice cream cake. We discovered that we might be in for some trouble with Kai as he would ask Nate for some more, Nate would tell him to ask Mommy, then Kai would turn to me with the biggest smile and twinkle in his eye and say, "pleeeeeeese Mommy?" Smiling the whole time. I just wanted to laugh, and he got more.

Last night when it was time for Kai to go down, Jericho helped. Kai was already in his bed and started crying. So I asked Jer to go to the fridge, get Kai his milk and take it to him. He did, with glee. It was funny listening to them interact.

"Here's your milk Malachi..."

"tank-too"

"Where's your blanket?"

"bu-bye"

"No, it's right there silly! Good-night!"

"nye night!"

Those of us listening were in stitches. They are like little people now who communicate and mostly make sense! I feel like such a successful parent sometimes.
Right now they are in our room pretending like Nate's side of the bed is a slide and my side is the ladder on the way up. I'm a little worried as they can be way too quiet sometimes and last time they played this game my jewelry box ended up spilled everywhere. There are still little beads under our bed.

I used to blog more often.

I would love to be one of those people who blogs everyday or almost everyday, but sometimes the days just get away from me and before I know it, it's AUGUST! There have been a few big things that have gone on here in our modest household. Last week we spent a few days gearing up to feed 70 at my Nana's 80th birthday party. Nate did most of the work, I dealt with rentals, brainstorming and helped wherever Nate needed me to.

The party was beautiful. It was a vison of white and light purple and could have been pulled off as a wedding. The photographer even commented that we could organize events more often. Yeah, no. I mean, it was quite fun and I loved surprising my Nana, but it was a lot of work and quite stressful. But it would be cool if I was into that kind of thing. Nate could do the catering and Christa would look after the decor and Mom could host it. Like I said, yeah... no.

Part of the surprise included a scrapbook that had been put together. Both Megan and Nina did a lot of work on it. We had quite a few relatives write something to place in the book as well... I wrote a poem and thought I would share it with you:

My Nana

My Nana is high tea, crumpets and butter tarts
She’s royalty, but the kind of gentle, loving Queen

My Nana is smiles and laughter, giggles and winks
She’s everything that makes your day a little better.

My Nana is lilacs in full bloom, daisies galore
She’s someone you want to enjoy the day with

My Nana is unwritten memoirs, moments to treasure
She’s a book you want to read over and over.

My Nana is the simple farm life with blessings mixed in
She’s hardworking and loves her Jesus

My Nana is hugs and sweet smelling kisses
She’s the warmness you need, especially on cold days

My Nana is genuine, never makes you feel small
She’s the person to go to when you need the truth

My Nana is someone I will cherish forever
She’s my Nana, my confidante, my guide, my friend

Love you Nana!


From,

Sara

Written for Marion Beatrice Craig in celebration of her 80th Birthday, August 7, 2009


She called me the other day to tell me she had read it and loved it. That made my day.

Today my babysitter had asked for a day off so I decided to spend some time with the boys and we drove to Langley for the first time since the tolls have been implemented. We went to the "big park" for awhile, then went for a drive to the gardens where Nate and I had our wedding photos done. It's a beautiful oriental-ish garden with a rock waterfall and lots of flowers. The boys were even nice enough to pose for a few pictures. When they were done, we got out the stroller and went for walk down one of the Langley trails. There were a few people picking blackberries and we stopped for some, but the real exciting part of the trip was when we came upon a little clearing to find a dingy little pond filled with ducks. Jericho and Kai were so excited, especially when we spotted a pair of turtles in the distance. I was pretty disappointed to find my camera battery had died. I took them out for lunch after that and we had fun until Jericho had to go to the bathroom. I think the waitress thought we were dine and dashers.

On Monday I found a random cake mix in my cupboard and decided since Nate had done so much work this past weekend that I would let the boys surprise him with a cake. When I say "the boys" I mean it. They stirred it, they added the water, they licked the spoons : )

Well, I should start tackling my kitchen as the males have all left for the grocery store and I don't want blog writing to be my only accomplishment upon their return.











Toodles!

The Photographer Protege

I would love to think of myself as being a good writer, that when people read my blog they don't think of mistakes in grammar or spelling, or of how they would have written it differently. I would like to think that everyone gets lost in my world and the characters that surround me. I've been reading "In Sunlight in a Beautiful Garden" and I found myself completely focused on the story and enraptured by what was taking place on the pages. A few books I've read lately of been pretty sub-par in writing and mostly fluff, but I found myself renewing a love of true literature and it was heart warming. Even though the story is truly tragic, I loved it.

I'd like to hope that my boys grow up with an appreciation of the arts. They don't need to become artists, writers, or actors - I guess I would just like to see them as well rounded individuals. To be able to read a classic novel and tell the difference between it and a comic book (not that there's anything wrong with comic books :p ). To be able to tell me what happened in the Shakespeare play they read about it school. To be able to re-enact some part of a movie and have me in stitches - much like their Uncle Phil.

I think that's why I so enjoy watching Jericho attempt to take pictures with my camera. It's hilarious as he holds the large contraption in his small hands, shaking steadily... while happily informing his subject they need to 'smile!' Then his look of wonder as he watches on the magical screen as his art comes to life. The digital age is fairly cool that way.

I'm not going to mind whether or not he decides to become a photographer, but if he does it will make the following just a little more valuable.

Haircuts

Today we took Kai for his very first haircut. He hated every single second of it so we didn't get many pictures, but you get the idea.




And by some freak of nature, my husband decided that yes, we would FINALLY cut Jericho's hair! Too bad the lady took off WAY more than he wanted her to. But it turned out alright, and it's only hair... I couldn't get over how well he sat in the chair - all by himself! He had quite the stoic look on his face, but I think he comes by that naturally enough.






I've been asked by Nate to do a post in the next little while all about Jericho's budding photography skills. Stay tuned!

Travelling Adventures and Sickness Woes

To say these last two weeks have been a whirlwind would be a gross understatement. When people who you don't get to see very often come for a visit, you tend to cram in a little too much. We were able to go on two spectacular weekend trips, neither of which I would trade for anything. The first was a four day stint to Grand Mound, Washington to stay at their Great Wolf Lodge. It was impressive! The hotel was set-up very well and if we had chosen to, we could have stayed their the entire time without leaving the grounds once. The water park was perfect for Jericho, a little too overwhelming for Malachi, and tonnes of fun for us oldies!

It had been a hard decision as we had been planning on going to Harrison, but to be honest... I've kinda od'd on Harrison. Don't get me wrong, I love it there! But with kids it's a little harder. I would pick it as a romantic get-a-way, but not entirely a family destination. Great Wolf was aimed completely at families. No romantic get-a-ways allowed :)

We left Thursday night, stopped in Seattle for a trip to Buca de Beppo for supper. Very yummy! Highly recommend! Then we proceeded on to Grand Mound, about an hour further south. I think this hotel is pretty perfect for families, especially ones with kids anywhere from about 4-8. Even though our boys had fun, they were still just a little too young for most things. We'll go back one day I'm sure.

After our weekend trip, my in-laws stayed with us and went on daily trips with the boys while I worked. They went to the Aquarium one day and apparently every child in the Lower Mainland had decided to go that day as well. It was a bit of a zoo, really.

Then on Thursday night again we left for another exursion. This time to Thormanby Island off the Sunshine Coast. My brother in law's family owns a cabin there and it was scary trying to plan for it, but it turned out to be amazing. So amazing in fact that Nate couldn't stop talking about moving there. Um... there's no electricity- hello!!!

But the beach was stellar, the food was amazing and it just felt good to relax and enjoy ourselves. It's good we were able to catch up on some sleep because the Monday night after we were home, we realized the Kai was quite sick. He woke up while we were playing cards with Nate's parents and I could tell something was wrong. He had a shaky way about him, was inconsoloble and screamed like he was in serious pain. I sent Nate for Ambesol and Ovol as I wasn't sure if it was a tummy issue or teething. But I remembered that he had been constipated and as he cried he lifted his feet. I held him until he calmed down and fell asleep, but it took a long time. He woke up again around 2 and had the same issues. I took him to the emergency room and my Mom met me there as I had left a sobbing message on her phone. I don't deal well with my kids being sick and there's something about having my Mom around that is calming in a way.

We saw a doctor around 2:45, but he didn't seem entirely helpful. He explained that constipation is painful- duh! But Kai was also breathing funny and I wasn't sure about it and it seemed to be more than just painful. It seemed excrutiating. But he gave Kai some stuff to help him out and sent us home.

Again, around 5 am he woke up and was screaming, shaking, breathing erratically, and had a high fever. I called my Mom and she came to stay with Jericho as Nate was leaving for the airport and couldn't stay with sleeping Jericho. I took Kai to Children's this time. Good decision. I arrived around 6:30 and waited until 9:30 to be seen. Apparently there was a newborn baby girl who required the entire emerg staff. Heartbreaking. Do you know how hard it is to sit in an emergency room at Children's hospital sitting with your sick son and not to cry? But I saw a wonderful, wonderful doctor who took my seriously and I saw concern on his face. He sent me for an emergency x-ray and came back about an hour later to tell me that Kai had an impacted bowel. Basically he was constipated to the enth degree.

So after some attempts to remove the blockage, he sent me home with plenty of instructions. I'm happy to say that Kai went to bed in a good mood tonight and I was able to see his smile countless times today. He'll still be on plenty of fiber and water over the next little while, but for now he is better.

Now I'm dealing with an older son with a suspected ear infection. I took him to the clinic today and the told me she didn't see any infection, but that maybe I should get him checked on Sunday or Monday?? Meanwhile, he spent the day in pain. I thought I should take him back, but I cuddled him on the couch and made sure to give him Tylenol every 4 hours. If he wakes up still complaining, we're headed to the clinic once again.

It seems that illness comes in waves here. They don't tend to be sick at the exact same time, but there is always some overlap.

Anyway, we had a great few weeks with FIL & MIL and so glad they were able to come! Now let's just hope the sickness bunny leaves us soon!