Highs and Lows

The last couple of days have been filled with highs and lows. First the high, my brother is getting married...I know, I didn't think it would ever happen...he's not one for doing things 'traditionally.' We are so happy for him and Hillary. Hillary is an absolutely fantastic person, we love her to death. Her and Ryan are perfect for each other...who else do you know that thinks riding their bikes for 8 plus hours at once is fun??? We can't wait to fly to...Whistler, Seattle or Costa Rica to be apart of this glorious day.

Now the low, my poor grandma has not been doing well. She is very weak, sick to her stomach, in pain, having heart rate problems etc.... The kids and I spent a few days with her in Welland trying to help out when we could. I have a very close relationship with my grandparents, we lived with them for 3 years. We are thinking about you every minute and praying that you get better really quickly. We love you!!!!!

If I were a single parent.....

Each day, each hour, each moment of being on my own with the kids has added to the respect I have for my mother. She was on her own with my brother and I when I was 2 and he was 4. My dad wasn't in the picture much at all....she didn't get weekends off. I don't know how she did it...it's a lot of work...hard work. My brother and I had every opportunity that other's had with both parents, she sacrificed anything and everything for us, we never went without. I have 5 more days to go before Jason comes home and I can not wait. We all miss him terribly. Riley asks every night if daddy can sleep with her when he gets home in the night. It breaks my heart to tell her we have 5 more sleeps.

While he has been away I have been thinking of things that would be different in my life if this was reality......THANK GOODNESS IT"S NOT!!!!! Here is my little list...so far.
1. I would consume a lot more wine - takes the edge off:)
2. I would drink a lot more coffee - for that extra boost
3. Mixing wine and coffee...might not be a bad idea
4. I would live in a bungalow
5. I would not have a dog - poor neglected Newman, he misses Jason too
6. Our cleaning lady Nicole would come on a weekly basis, not bi-weekly
7. I would have to learn to cook.
8. I would by a bigger washer and dryer....less loads of laundry.
9. My kids would watch more than their 20 minutes of T.V. we allow them to watch.
10. I might actually have to ask for help....I am not good at this now, in fact I rarely do it.

I am sure as the week goes on I will be able to add to my list...I can't wait until Monday!!!!!

Simon's first big injury

My poor boy got his first injury to speak of. He was walking at the pool at Sherkston Shores and started to talk to the lady behind him. He walked right into a post...unfortunately the post had a hook and eye in it....right at head level. The hook split open his head and he started to bleed....oh boy did he bleed:( I was in control until the crazy lady that was talking to him in the first place started to scream "he's bleeding all over" and "run to the medical center". That put me over the edge... Simon had already stopped crying, I'm sure he was trying to figure out what the crazy lady was yelling about. I took him to see the medical staff and they cleaned him up and put terry strips on him. Here's my brave boy with his boo boo:(

Sherkston Shores

The kids and I headed down to spend some time with my mom. We spent the day at Sherkston and did it all. We went for golf cart rides, went swimming in the pool, hung out on the beach, went mini putting, played games in the arcade, Riley jumped on the flying trampoline and we partied with the band.....what a full day.


Ready to go on the golf cart


Simon chillin at the pool. Simon and I think Riley and Nee Nee are nuts...that water is cold. We would much rather lounge and eat snacks.


Mini putting...even through the water hazard.



Our little dare devil on the high flying trampoline. Riley asked me all day if she could do it...I wasn't so sure she would when it came down to it....boy, was I wrong. She kept asking the guy to go higher and higher. As soon as it was done she wanted to do it again.




Partying like rockstars!!! Simon was on fire, he danced non-stop. The band kept telling him to stop stealing the show. Priceless.

We will miss you Daddy

Today we are driving Jason to the airport for his 10 day trip to the Netherlands. He is going to coach the 19U National Beach Team at the Worlds. We are proud of all of his accomplishments in both playing volleyball and now coaching but we sure will miss him. The kids and I will try to stay busy, busy, busy to make time pass by as quickly as possible. Good Luck daddy, we'll miss you!!!!!!!

SO PROUD!!!!!

The dreaded potty training of Simon has been MUCH easier then anticipated....thank goodness. We have complete success when he is not wearing anything at all, in fact he just goes by himself and comes tells us after he has gone. He has more difficultly when he is wearing his 'big boy' pants, but we are still having some success. We are out of diapers completely for all waking hours. We ventured out last night for dinner and to do some errands in his big boy pants....only one accident....sorry about the floor in the mall:)

We are so proud of him and looking forward to having some diaper free time!!!!!!

Bowling

Coming up with indoor activities for the kids in this never ending rain is getting more and more difficult. We decided to give bowling a try on Wednesday. The kids thought it was great and very slowly pushed the ball down the lane. We were very thankful for the bumpers so nobody got a gutter ball.




Riley, of course, thought the best part was the 'special snacks'



I'm not bragging or anything but look who won:) Notice Simon beat Jason.

ROM

We spent another rainy day today at the ROM. Simon got passes for his birthday and he was so excited to see the dinos. He got all dressed up in his dino shirt and ran around the ROM saying "Look it, a dino", "look a big dino", "So cute, a baby dino" and "Where's more dino's?" He loved every minute of it. Another huge hit was the bat cave, we had to go through it three times.

Touching a raccoon


Snake skin


The Dino's



Digging for dino bones


As Simon said "I say cheese with the blue lady."


On the way back to the car we stopped at U of T Varsity Stadium, the kids ran the track.


Thank you Aunt Rosemary, Uncle Rick, G.G. and G.G.2 for a great day!!!!!!

Rain, Rain, Go Away

It has rained here every single day for a week. We have or should I say had plans for a few fun outdoor activities before Jason goes to Holland....so far no luck. We took the kids to the Lil Kritters Klub, which is an indoor playground in Barrie. They had a great time and it was a good way to burn off some of their energy indoors.

Happy Birthday Grandma

On Sunday it was Jason's mom birthday. We had a little birthday celebration at our house for grandma. Riley and I baked a cake for her, as you can see she really enjoyed it.




We had a great dinner and the kids helped grandma blow out her candles

YEAH, TEAM FOUR!!!!!!

Last night was Riley last night of soccer for the season. She really gets in there are tries her best...in fact she is the only 3 year old who actually plays and she is also the only girl that plays. The other girls and 3 year old spend their time on the sand pile. After the game there was a BBQ, it was unbelievable. the league only cost $20.00 and we got a jersey, socks, BBQ hot dogs, popsicles, drinks, timbits, a ribbon and a medal....got to love timbits soccer:) Here are some photos of our evening.

Beach time

One of our favourite things to do in the summer is to be at a beach....not surprising, I know. We live about 10 minutes from Wasaga Beach and we often enjoy heading there for a picnic dinner and some playtime. The kids love it...they truly are water babies!

BIG BOY PANTS!!!!

Look at our boy in big boy pants!!!



We are in the very beginning stages of potty training because Simon has decided that he doesn't want diapers...the unfortunate part is that he only wants the potty sometimes. He is wearing big boy pants when we are at home and diapers when we are out. He has had accidents everyday but more importantly he has had success everyday as well. We will keep at it this summer and hope to be completely successful by Sept.

7 Years!!!

The 14th of July is our wedding anniversary. We had a perfect wedding and would not have changed a thing if we were to do it all over again. We got married at the Nottawasaga Inn in an outdoor ceremony. The weather was fantastic and the gardens were beautiful. Our reception was in one of the ballrooms at the resort. It was a super fun night filled with great food, tons of dancing and an crazy amount of drinking. We left the party at 1:00a.m. thinking that the party was almost over....boy were we wrong! It went on until past 5:00a.m. with pitchers full of Rye, golf course escapades and of course a little nudity (it's not a party with Jason and his boys if someone doesn't take their clothes off).

This year we had a fabulous day celebrating. The four us us headed back to the Nottawasga and walked around the grounds showing the kids where we got married. The gardens are even more lush and beautiful 7 years later. We enjoyed a YUMMY lunch overlooking the golf course. After lunch we headed home for naps and Jason's parents came out to watch the kids so we can go out to dinner. We went to The North resturant in Barrie and ate some more. We then had a nice walk downtown and by the waterfront and then headed to Chapters for some Starbucks and relaxation. When we got home Riley and Simon were both sound asleep and the house was quiet. It was a wonderful day! here are some photos of the kids in the wedding garden and in our ballroom at the Nottawasaga.

Sunday at the Elmvale Zoo

Jason is away...yes, again, coaching the Provincial Team. So, the kids and I spent the morning at the zoo that is minutes from our house. It doesn't seem to matter how many times a season we go there they still run around and cheer and squeal like they have never been there before, it's fantastic. Here are the little cuties....

Family Fun Day!

Our little community of Phelpston had a great Family Fun Day on Saturday. The reason for this day was to raise money for our neighbour who is six years old and has just been diagnosed with cancer. We do not have any sort of cancer treatment centers in Barrie so her mother was forced to quit her job and travel back and forth to Toronto Sick Kids Hospital for treatments. Family Fun day was a great success with BBQ's, jumping castles, inflatable mazes, fishing ponds, face painting, silent auction and live bands all day long. The turn out was amazing...don't know where all those people came from...certainly not Phelpston:) Here are a few photos of the kids enjoying their day.

PEE PEE IN THE POTTY!!!

Simon has gone to the potty 2 times this morning!!!!!!!! Both times he told me he had to go and ran to the potty:) We are so proud of him! One can only hope this is the start of something wonderful.

Ribfest

Nee Nee and Papa are up for the day between their jet setting from Texas to Quebec City back to Texas so we took the opportunity to head to Ribfest in Barrie. It was a yummy morning of eating ribs, chips, popcorn and drinking lemonade. After eating as much as we possibly could we went for a walk down the waterfront and played at the park.