My new favourite picture of Abby Grace

Many faces of Jude...

As I sat downstairs with some girlfriends the other night, we heard a large crash. When I went to investigate, Jude (who I had thought was asleep) made his way to the bathroom where he proceeded to try out Mummy's makeup. That would be waterproof mascara on his cheeks and lips... all the makeup was neatly back in it's bag and I likely would not have known it was used (until I saw the evidence on his face) had there not been the crash. The crash was not the makeup, but a bag of pieces for his train set. Why are they in the bathroom you ask? Great question! We give Jude a piece or two of his train set every time he poops in the potty.

Yes, we let him wear his rubber boots while he sits on the potty. They were new and he was super excited about them.

He wanted to help me make pink waffles (coloured with beet juice) a couple weeks ago. I showed him how to crack the egg. When on the first try he was not able to do it, he proceeded to squeeze the egg. When he tells the story, it goes something like this... "I squeeze the egg soooo hard [demonstrating with his hands how he squeezed] and it go on the table and on the floor and on my cheeks and on my hair... I say, 'I all eggy Mummy'.... I sad"

Although initially he did not want Mummy to take a picture of him in the dressup wig, he decided that it would be okay only if he could say "Snuggle Puppy" instead of "cheese".

Sweet Jude, I can hardly believe that you'll be 3 years old in a few short months. You're growing into such a big boy, and yet you still ask us to cuddle you for "just one more minute" and sneak in between Daddy and I in the middle of the night. You love to bug Abby with a twinkle of mischief in your eye whenever possible, but are quick to join in and play kitties with her.

Birthday sweetness

So my birthday was, umm... last month... it's been a little busy around here and I know that I've neglected our blog. To illustrate...as I sit here at 9:03 pm, Jude is yelling at the gate I've put up in the door of their room... they've been in bed for nearly 2 hours and not only is he not asleep, he's been up out of bed at least a dozen times. Yes, I could ignore him and perhaps I should. However, the last time I ignored him he woke up his brother on the other end of the house. Another time he broke through the gate not only once, but twice. The second time he went at it with such force that he hit his head on the dresser outside their bedroom door.

Most of the time he is an amazingly sweet little guy. I made the kids peanut butter and jam sandwiches for lunch on my birthday. While I was getting something from the other room, Jude came in and started singing "Happy Birftday" and presented me with a "cake" (his sandwiches piled up).

This is the beautiful cake that my sweet friends made for me and dropped off. The kids were very excited!

Movin' in

We started the addition in September 2006 when Jude was only 4 months old.

After all the framing...

...wiring, insulating, & vapor-barrier-ing...

...sealing, installing, mudding, sanding, priming & painting drywall...

...scraping, planing, cutting, installing, sanding, & varathaning the reclaimed hardwood floor...

...planing, sanding, cutting, staining, varathaning, installing trim (some of which was reclaimed)...

...we're DONE-ish... at least enough to move in to give the little Gomers some much needed space!

Winter...

Enjoying winter...

Abby's school had a family skate night last weekend. Abby and I skated for nearly an hour. She has progressed so much this year. We went only once last winter, but she's gone 3 times with her JK class this year. The first time I went to watch her skate with her class, she skated while hanging on to the boards. Last week she skated without holding on at all! She gets more confident each time she goes. She wants to take skating lessons next year.

Family Fondu

We ended Family Day with a chocolate fondu. I had a few girlfriends over last night and we chatted over coffee & tea & fruit dipped in chocolate :) We finished off the rest of the chocolate tonight. This was our first family fondu. The kids loved it... really, what's not to love!?!

Life....

"You no take picture of me Mummy..."

It started with a runny nose that I attributed to the 2 molars and 2 incisors breaking through Jordan's little gums. Then on the way home from the sitter's home Jude threw up... Jude's nose started to run... Jordan started to cough... Jude started to cough... Jordan had a fever... Abby threw up in the middle of the night (she's on the top bunk and only narrowly missed hitting her brother who did not wake up even after I had to stand on his bunk to change Abby's) ... Abby's nose started to run...

Children waking... at all hours of the night for all reasons... sore noses, sore gums, sore throats, sore tummies...

Although Jon and I are fighting it off (somewhat), we're overtired from getting up repeatedly through the night... which likely means that it's a matter of time before we get sick.

Jude's even been asking to go to bed, which is VERY unusual. Every time he coughs, he tears up and says, "I no feeling very good". The day I took this picture Jude wanted to go to bed even before Jon got home from work.

This weekend we tried to get the kids out of the house to get some fresh air in their lungs. We went sliding with some friends on Saturday. Jordan cried... Jude didn't even want to go up the hill. Jon took the boys to get hot chocolate and donuts while I slid with Abby & our friends.

Today was "Family Day", a holiday here in Ontario. We thought that the Voyageur Winter Carnival at Fort William Historical Park would be a fun way to spend part of the day. It did not go as well as we'd planned. We fed the kids "lunch" at 10:30, packed up snacks, drinks and diapers, dressed everyone in winter garb, and headed out (stopping only for a caffeine fix). Jude and Jordan both fell asleep on the way out to the park. They woke shortly after we arrived and seemed to be happy enough. Jude decided that he didn't want to walk... at least not more than a slow shuffle. Jordan who is generally quite content in the backpack started crying (loudly) for no apparent reason (believe me... we tried to figure out why he was so upset). Abby and I continued to wait for the sleigh to return to take us and a whack of other people to the fort and Jon took the boys to the van. I thought of several other alternatives as we watched Jon and the boys trek back to the parking lot, but it's really difficult to have a conversation or THINK, in public, with a screaming toddler and a preschooler that wants to be held/carried. I was sad that Jon and the boys missed out on most of the winter carnival, but Abby did great even though her nose was runny and sore.

The highlight for us was watching a Native woman make bannock over an open fire in a tee pee as they would have in 1815 at the fort. Abby enjoyed trying the bread (I gave Abby my piece... it was fried in pork fat... which as a vegetarian I generally try to avoid!)

Abby tried walking in snow shoes. They were similar to ones that we had when I was growing up. Watching Abby took me back to my childhood... walking through the woods behind the barn and through the fields around the homestead.

I Heart Faces-Kids

This week's I Heart Faces contest is "Silly". This is my entry for the Kids section. There are amazingly talented photographers who have also entered their photos at I Heart Faces. Head on over and check them out!

I Heart Faces-Kids

My friend has been contributing to the I Heart Faces contest for the past 3 weeks, so I thought I would join her this week! The theme for the week is "The Eye's Have It". This is my entry in the kids section, my son Jude after "helping" Mummy clean out the batter bowl!

Pop by and check out the amazing pictures from all the talented photographers (Katarina included!) at I Heart Faces.

Happy 5th Birthday Abby Grace!!

Abby printing her friends' names and her own name on all her birthday invitations.

We celebrated Abby's 5th birthday last weekend. We had a "family" party for her on Saturday where she opened her presents from family and had pizza, ice-cream & cake (Mummy pulled off a "Hello Kitty" cake) and then a "friend" party at Wiggles 'n Giggles with 6 of her friends. It was her first birthday party with school friends.
The cake was included in the party package... no "outside food" food allowed (thus the main reason why Mummy did the Hello Kitty cake for the family party).
We got Abby a "Jungle in my Pocket" (like Kitty in my Pocket) from Jude & Jordan. She's already played with it for hours!

Today

Today...I questioned my sanity several times before 9:00 am.

Today... in spite of hours of preparation last night, I found myself running late.

Today... Jude and Jordan both decided to poop after they were already changed once.

Today... Abby forgot to pee when she woke, but didn't realize it until her bus was coming (she was able to hold it until she got to school... I could not have)

Today... was cold.

Today... I cried twice before we even left the house.

Today...was not an overly productive internship day.

Today... Jon drove up to Pickle Lake , the most northerly Ontario community with year-round road access, 540 kms north of Thunder Bay, where he will remain all week.

BUT

Today... I decided to enjoy a cup of coffee with Jon after the kids were at school and the sitter's home.

Tonight... I gave my kids lots of cuddles and attention instead of trying to madly prepare something for supper... they ate cold chicken and sausage, cheese, raisins, applesauce and bread...all food groups covered :)

Tonight... I took time to admire Abby and Jude's artwork from the day and asked them to "tell me about it".

Tonight... I let Jude feed Jordan his applesauce and smiled at the joy this gave both brothers.

Tonight... I took extra time to "chat" with Jordan and snuzzle his little toes as he nursed.

Tonight... Abby helped Jude put his jammie top on and then read him a story.

Tonight... my house is quiet.

Tonight... I'm wearing Jon's sweater, just because it's cozy and it smells like him (I know, I'm a sap... I actually cried at a dog food commercial last week...)

Tonight... I'm thankful that God is bigger than the little stressors of my day. I'm thankful for the many many many ways in which He blesses my life.