Thursday, August 28, 2008

Three's Company

We have been keeping this under wraps for a little while but......here comes Hubbard # 3. Yes, this was planned....please don't ask if it was a mistake...it really bothers me when people ask that. We are so lucky and excited to be adding to our family, another Hubbard miracle.

Baby Hubbard at 18 weeks.




Not sure if you can tell, but baby is sucking it's thumb....YIKES....that is exactly what Riley was doing in her ultrasound.

The Cleanest Floor In Town...

Cinderella is still at it......

Diamond Teeth

Riley had her first 'real' visit to the dentist. She had the whole deal: check up, cleaning....the works. She was sooooo good and cooperative with the dentist. After her cleaning she said to us "look my teeth shine like diamonds." Here is the proud girl.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

What a weekend!!!!!

Things just don't seem to be improving....can anything else go wrong this weekend?????? After all our drama on Friday evening and a very late night we decided it was best to take it easy on Saturday. Our original plan was to to go to Center Island, but we are all very tired and out of sorts. The kids and I had a nice morning playing tennis and going swimming. Jason came back to the hotel for lunch and we headed over to Yorkdale for a bite to eat. After lunch, it was nap time. The kids had a long nap, from 12:30 to 5:00. When they woke up they were out of sorts and feeling warm. They both asked if we could go to the 'jungle' (Rain Forest Cafe) for dinner. On the way there we decided to stop in at Shoppers for a thermometer....they both had fevers of 100....UGH!!!!! We got them some Tylenol and they still wanted to go have dinner. We stopped at the Disney store and Cinderella had daddy buying her glass slippers and figurines. I guess if you can't beat them, join them???

We made our way to the jungle, ordered our food and it all went down hill....Simon was sleeping on me and Riley was saying she was not hungry or thirsty....we have never heard those words from her, she's an eater. We took all of our food to go, I headed back to the hotel with the kids and Jason stayed back to pay the bill, get the food etc.. He stopped on the way home to get popsicles and anything else he thought the kids would eat. We had no luck convincing them to eat or drink anything at all. The kids went to bed while Jason and I continued to take their temperatures and give them Tylenol all night.

It's Sunday morning and things are starting to look up. They both have a very small fever and are drinking a lot and eating a little. Hopefully it only goes up from here.

I must have cursed us with this weekend because last week I said to a friend of mine that the kids haven't had any sort of illness in a year. No colds, no nothing. In fact it was this week last year that they both had colds. Hopefully this is it for another year.

Here are some photos of the kids at the jungle before the downward slide:)

Holiday Inn Yorkdale

We can not give enough praise and thanks to the staff at the Holiday Inn. They were incredibly helpful with our drama on Friday evening. They were willing to do anything and everything to help me. I know, I know they were covering their own butts, but it was still terrific. They called many times on Saturday to check in with us and to see how Simon was. They even sent up a plate full of cookies and milk for the kids. We are so impressed with everything, thank you.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

More drama

We are not big fans of drama in our lives....but...it always seems to find us. We headed to Toronto on Friday night for Jason's last weekend coaching the Provincial Team for the beach season. We are staying at the Holiday Inn Yorkdale. Jason headed out Friday evening for his first coaching session. The kids and I went for some dinner, to play tennis, to play in the kids club and for a little swim. It was a very nice and uneventful evening...until...bedtime. I got the kids all ready for bed, their bedrails on, teeth brushed and I asked Simon to pick 3 books for his bedtime stories. I headed to the bathroom while he picked books...then I heard it....the scream. He came running into the bathroom screaming and holding his arm, he was shaking badly. I picked him up and asked Riley what happened and she said he rolled off the end of the bed and is arm was funny. When I tried to take a look at his arm it was hanging there, he wouldn't use it or his hand. I rocked him and he quickly fell asleep...this worried me even more because I didn't know if he hit his head. I dialed Jason's cell phone and the Beach Blast phone numbers and no answer...he was coaching what did I expect. I tried to wake Simon, no luck, so I laid him on the bed to take a closer look at his arm and I moved it and he SCREAMED!!!!!!

Now, I was by myself, 2 kids, strange place and no car. I called down to the front desk to ask if they had any medical staff and quickly 3 people were in my hotel room. They too looked at Simon's arm and called 911.....I was so freaked out. As the 3 of us were loading into the ambulance Jason pulled up....a sight to be seen. The medics checked him out and spoke of a head injury and his arm....did I mention it was 9:30 by this time...an hour and a half past bedtime. We were rushed to the hospital...lights, sirens the whole deal. By the time we went through triage and registration Simon was wide awake, asking for snack and using his arm....thank goodness...but the drama.

Did I mention that the hospital the ambulance took us to was right near Jane and Finch....an education for us, one that we hope to never have again. After 5 hours, nurses, doctors and x-rays it was determined that Simon suffered a pulled elbow and there was no head injury. Apparently, it's very common in toddlers. The doctor said with everything that I described it sounds like when I checked him the second time and moved his arm and he screamed I put it back in place. There are no breaks and no fractures.

We arrived back at the hotel at 2:30 in the morning looking for our beds. Just to add a little more stress to our lives while all of this was happening we had a phone call from my mom telling us that my poor grandma had suffered a heart attack, she is now stable and resting comfortably. We will be heading to Welland on Tuesday to see her. Hopefully we don't have anymore drama in our lives for a very long time.

7:00 A.M.

What do you do at 7:00a.m.????? We are already outside painting.

Help us... the Cinderella Phase is still upon us!!!!!!

Cinderella still lives at our house and it's driving me crazy!!!!!!! Her name isn't Riley it's Cinderella, she cleans the floors, goes to the ball, dresses up and sings the songs ALL THE TIME. Here is a picture of Jason indulging her....he is the sleeping prince. Did a prince sleep in Cinderella...I don't think so???



Simon gets into it too.

Friday, August 22, 2008

One day this will be worth millions....

As many of you know Riley is very creative. She is always playing dress up, drawing, colouring, making up stories, dancing and crafting. She drew this picture the other morning and it blew both Jason and I away.


She named this picture 'a girl on a bike'. It is amazing how quickly she is moving through the various stages of development in art....okay that was a lame teacher comment....enough said:)

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

An Update on my Grandma

My poor grandma is still in the hospital, in fact we have been told that she will never be able to come home. Her official diagnosis is Chronic Heart Failure and she now requires 24 hour care. She will be in the hospital until a room at a home is available then she will move there. There are a lot of problems with this, the first being because of the amount of care she needs my grandfather is unable to go with her. I can't imagine after almost 60 years of marriage that they are now forced to live apart...so sad. I also can't get over the fact that she goes into the hospital and can never go to her house again. She doesn't get to pack her things, clean out her stuff, have time to say goodbye or even sit in that ugly red chair we all called Ruby. It's heartbreaking.

Canada's Wonderland

We took the kids to Wonderland before we left for Vegas but I took pictures on a different camera and can't seem to figure it all out. I know I'm techno wiz. As soon as I figure it out I will post them....hopefully sooner then later.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Down with Cinderella



When Jason and I were in Vegas Nee Nee took Riley and Simon to see the theater production of Cinderella....the start of the Cinderella phase. Riley is now obsessed with Cinderella, she runs around in dress up - complete with 'glass slippers'. She insists on being called Cinderella and calls me the stepmother, Jason is the king and Simon is the prince. All this is fine at home, but.....we went to the bank today and she loudly said to me 'stepmother do I have to go home and clean the floors again?' We got a few looks. We are also going to have the cleanest house on the block as she spends a good part of the day in her 'rags' washing the floors. She cleaned the bathroom floor 3 times in one day. This was very cute at first but now....it's a little old. One can only hope that this is a phase that lasts a very short time.

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Riley and Simon's time with Nee Nee

While Jason and I were on our little vacation Nee Nee came to our house to be with Riley and Simon. I am not sure where she gets her energy from but she kept the kids on the go the entire time. They went to the indoor play place, for walks, to the park, to the theater to see a production of Cinderella, out for lunch, out for dinner, had tea parties and picnics. They all had blast and both Riley and Simon asked for her first thing in the morning.

In fact, she is so amazing that when our flight was canceled and then delayed twice, I was in a bit of a panic. I knew she had to be at work for 5:00a.m. and we would not arrive home until at least 11:00pm...she would then have to make the drive from our house to Welland. I called her to apologize for everything and her response was "don't worry about it, I get to spend one more day with my babies"....we couldn't ask for a better Nee Nee...she is the most selfless person, there are never any strings attached to anything. Thank you for everything that you do and everything that you are, we love you and Riley and Simon's lives are richer because of you.

VEGAS BABY!!!!!!

Jason and I went on our very first kid-free holiday. We headed out on Monday for Vegas. We had a beautiful room at the Bellagio with a view of the fountains....what a hotel it was, one of the most opulent hotels we have ever stayed in. We spent most of our time relaxing at the pool, touring the strip, checking out the casinos and hotels, eating, drinking and seeing a few shows. We lost all the money we gambled....a whopping $4.00. We will let the pictures tell our story of our vacation....


Our room at the Bellagio. This was one of the most opulent hotels we have ever stayed in.



The fantastic view from our room. We had a view of the fountains , the strip and the mountains.


Relaxing in the mornings....just what we needed.


The pool area





The Bellagio buffet breakfast...YUMMY


Hotel Lobby. The ceiling was full of colourful flowers all made from handblown glass.

The garden area of the lobby



Jason was in heaven....drinking while walking down the street and shopping.

The best Nachos ever....from Jimmy Buffets Margaritaville...I became obsessed with these nachos

The strip


We went to see the Vegas show Jubilee


The Bellagio fountains from our room


Time in the pool. The coolest day we had there was 106 degrees, this cool pool felt great.



Jason had a yard of margarita

The big gambler....he gambled a whole $4.00


We went to see the bodies exhibit...very cool


A great dinner right across from the fountains...thanks for the recommendation Melissa:)

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Blueberry picking

We all headed out to the blueberry patch this morning. Jason, Simon and I did a lot of picking....Riley did a lot of eating. Looks like blueberries will be on the menu with lettuce the next couple of days.

Our Veggie Garden

The kids and I planted a small veggie garden in the spring. The kids are so cute they go and visit it all the time and love to show people their veggies. Today we picked our first batch of lettuce....looks like we know what we will be eating for the the next couple of days.

Long Weekend

It was another busy weekend in the Hubbard household...would we ever have it any other way? Friday we spent a wonderful morning at our friends Nancy, Parker and Owen's house. We played, had lunch and went for a swim. It was a glorious relaxing morning.

Saturday we headed down to Kempenfest which is a HUGE art and craft show down by the waterfront. We walked around and looked at all of the booths. Simon wandered in to one of the booths and said "oh, isn't this marvelous?' I did make a few purchases...all for the kids of course. This is my favourite....



It will hang in Riley's room.


We did some baking...or eating in the afternoon.


After looking at the booths we headed to the ride area where our little daredevils went on the twirling strawberries, the dragon rollercoaster, the huge slides and the flying wooden shoes. I didn't bring my camera with me, so no photos:(

Sunday we headed to 'our beach.' It is near the main beach in Wasaga but there are no crowds. the kids had a great time building sand castles, jumping the waves and transporting water to a hole we dug in the sand.







Monday, Jason came home...YEAH!!!!! We headed down to the airport with the rest of the cottage traffic and waited and waited and waited in the airport. It took a really long time for him to come out of customs etc... but the kids were there waiting with flowers and balloons for their daddy. They are so excited to have him home and are really clingy to him....finally a break for mommy. Daddy gave them a bath when we got home and Riley moved in right away for her back rub. We are all so happy to have daddy here and have decided that the next time he goes we all go:)