We Love Cake

Well, another year older, another year more mature. Happy Birthday Ryan.
Reasons we are thankful for Ryan:
*He's really, really, ridiculously good looking
*He's really handy
*No one works harder for his family then Ryan
*Ryan is definitely the 'fun parent'
*He makes us all laugh
*He loves us, without a doubt
*Did I mention he's really, really, ridiculously good looking?

1 Stitch, 2 Stitch, 3 Stitch, 4

That is the end result of walking straight into the corner edge of a brick pillar. By far the least fun thing that could happen to a 5 year old girl. We were just walking along, she was holding Ryan's hand and SMACK.... blood everywhere. Ryan's hand immediately went up to her head to put pressure on the wound and it was so fast I didn't even really know it was bleeding until he picked her up in his arms and turned her toward me and blood was all I saw. By the amount of blood covering her face I thought she broke her nose but I was wrong. It was just pouring out of her forehead. We quickly took her back to the van and tried to wipe off all the blood with a semi-used napkin. Blood was all over her face and making parts of her hair red. We took her home, washed her face and I took her into the ER to see what the damage really was. The nurse came over, took one look and said it was definitely stitch-able and took us right back. First the nurse came and taped up some freezing so that the needle injection of freezing wouldn't be as painful for her. They mentioned that it takes about 30 minutes for that freezing to reach it's full potential in pain killing so in those 30 minutes the doctor came in, assessed the damage and gave me my options for stitching versus glue. For cosmetic reasons (the least chance of scaring) we went with undissolvable stitches. They went and wrapped her up like a mummy so she couldn't swat at the doctor or kick her, covered her face with a sheet with a tiny hole so her hair wouldn't get into the way and off they went. I've never had stitches or seen anyone get them before so this was a whole new experience for me. Sydney didn't move, didn't make a sound. Just layed there perfectly still with her brave face on under that little green sheet. She was amazing. So about 40 minutes after walking into the ER we walked out with 4 stitches and 6 princess stickers and I was one proud mommy! Proud of Sydney for being so amazingly strong and brave and proud of myself for not puking or fainting at all that blood!

Ryan Loves Me, Let Me Count The Ways

As a token to show how much Ryan loves his family he let us get a kitten. My mom, Brayden, Sydney and I went to the Animal Shelter to pick up our new long haired grey kitten. She had been in the shelter for a little bit but was only available to take home this last weekend. Coming from the shelter she had all her needles and seen a vet to make sure she was healthy but because she is only 8 weeks old she had not been spayed. You have to pay the price it would cost and take your 'golden ticket' (the dark yellow slip on the receipt) to the vet who will then spay your kitten and collect the money from the government and not you. This was my moms birthday gift to me ... Sage:

The first couple hours at home she was pretty skittish. I'm pretty sure she was freaked out by the 3 pairs of big brown eyes staring at her and monitoring her every move. The kids did not give this cat a moment to breathe. I don't think she even touched the floor of the house until we forced the kids to go out to the park and let the cat explore her new home on her own terms. She was totally litter trained, has been eating great and has now gotten used to the constant attention the kids give her. She is quiet at night as she has free range of the house which is fantastic. Now that we don't have any babies waking us up in the middle of the night the last thing we want is some little kitty meowing at us trying to get into the bed. So far I' say she's a pretty good fit. Hopefully she survives us!

Crazy Hair Day

How do you go to school when it's crazy hair day?

Photo Time Fun

For my dad's birthday this year a surprise birthday party had been planned for him. My job was to get him out of the house so that everything could be set up and ready for his return. My sister secretly flew in from Vancouver to surprise him at the party so we had an afternoon of fun planned for my dad. She met us at Moxies surprising him that she was even in town using the excuse that she found a cheap seat sale she just had to take advantage of. If my dad didn't believe it he didn't let on and assumed that was the reason I had been acting a little off my game earlier in the afternoon. After a little time catching up we decided to go play around with our camera's because it's something that all three of us love doing. I got my kids all dressed up cute for his party and told him it was because I wanted them to look amazing for some cute pictures and off we went down to the river bottom. For the most part my kids are easy participants in posing for me but it seems there is always one child that has a different opinion of what we should be doing. As far as going down into the river bottom, they all loved it. Running through the paths and playing with each other, I love watching those moments. It's moments when I can take a step back and watch my kids truly laughing that make me extremely grateful that at least in all the chaos and learning curves we are doing something right.

After we spent some time walking around the river bottom we went up to Galt Museum to play around up there. The kids love climbing around on the structures they have set up there on the coulee edge. It was the perfect time of day to be there with the sun lowering in the sky giving off a nice warm glow to everything. They all looked so cute running around in their fancy clothes having fun with each other. Brayden and Sydney were running around climbing on everything and there was little Madison following after them refusing to be left behind trying to climb up with them and keep up with them occasionally tripping on her long dress and bouncing back up to not loose any time.

Off to the side of the Galt Museum they have an old brick wall with windows and you can go there and play around on it. People go there to get their engagement or wedding pictures done sometimes. It's a great setting with the coulee's in the background and the nice contrast with the red brick and green tree's surrounding the museum. I tried to take advantage of it and line up all the kids and get them all to smile at the camera at the same time. Near impossible task. I was able to at least get a few nice and goofy shots of my sister and I with our dad. We ended right on time too! Just long enough so that when we got dad home most of the guests were there to surprise hi when we pulled up.

A Little Hitch

Brayden has always been my little man. He's kind, sensitive and cautious. Taking him to grade 2 that first day I think I was more nervous then he was as we found his classroom along with his desk and off he went. His first full day of school, staying at school for lunch and knowing no body in the classroom I hoped for the best. When I picked him up later that day he was so happy and excited.
The next day I asked him if he wanted to go to park and wait for the bell to ring and go in himself or if he wanted me to come with him. As I assumed he wanted me to take him to his class. We made it as far as the boot room when the first bell rang and a boy ran past Brayden saying "Hi Brayden" and off Brayden ran with his new friend leaving me standing there. So I turned and walked back to the van excited for him.
Friday (the next day) came and again I asked him if he wanted to go and wait for the bell at the park or have me come with him. To my surprise he said he'd find his own way to the class from the park and off he went. Sydney doesn't have kindergarten on Fridays so it was just us girls sitting there in the van. For some reason I couldn't pull out onto the road. I sat there watching him play waiting for the bell to ring and when it did he ran, grabbed his backpack and off he went into the school.
I slowly pulled out of my parking spot and drove home and as I was leaving the school zone I found there was this little hitch in my throat at the thought of my little boy growing up. When did that happen!?