Playland With the Kids

We took the kids to Playland a couple weeks ago with 'nana and papa' oh man it was a hoot! Max & Teri also joined us. We knew our thrill seeker Audrey would love it BUT were concerned about our tall 2 year old. 

Well I am SO glad we were wrong!!!!

Beckham was JUST tall enough for a lot of things and enjoyed everything!!!! Audrey was totally in her element! They were in bliss! A total repeat for sure! 

Mommy and daddy also ditched the babes with Nana and Papa so that we could go on THREE big 'kid' rides solo!

Beckham practically dragged us ride to ride squeeling with excitement! He even went on some that I couldn't believe he didn't get SO scared in!

Celebrating Audrey

4 is SO fun.

Because they are just as excited as you are at 4

Because they are able to do so many fun things 

Because they are just mini adults 

Because they are so much fun

Because they are tall enough for REAL adventures!

For Audrey's birthday we started off at the grocery store so she could choose all the fixings for her cake. 

She got to choose the color of the cake, the color of the icing, lots of treats to decorate.

She had a blast decorating it this year (she did last year as well) the only difference was this year I totally let go and let her do whatever she wanted. Nothing Pinterest perfect but totally 4 year old fun. 

Grandma gave her $4 in loonies. We let her and Beckham choose two .19 cent fish to take home and pay for by themselves with that money. This is to replace Beckhams fish 'two'. Audrey named the white fish 'Princess' beckham named the orange fish 'two' we call it 'Two the 2nd' lol.

We then has naptime. Glorious naptime. Or course we opened presents earlier in the morning.

I also have a 'eat whatever you want even if it's treats all day' on your birthday so we started the morning off with cupcakes. 

After naptime Beckham got dropped off at Grandmas so Audrey could have some quality time with mommy&daddy!

We took her to Castle Fun Park so we could go 'go-karting' and play games! It was a hit for sure!!!!

Coffee Table Rehab

Our practically free wooden coffee table 

This is it after sanding 

This is it after priming 

I'm excited for the paint&pairing with our outdoor furniture!!!!

Food cleanse

So Audrey was supposed to be the special helper, have show and tell, bring in a special treat for her friends at preschool because it was her birthday. 

We have a busy day celebrating our princess so the evening came fast. I stayed up late making coloured kettle corn (purple) for all her preschool friends and put it in little containers. It was so cute. I has one of those moments were I felt like I was 'in the mommy groove' you know that artsy, above and beyond mom...not something I strive for but for my girls special birthday I wanted to try do something fun for her. 

Well that night she must have heard me making it. 

When I woke up all the containers were gone.

She had taken them to her room.

Taken them and eaten all 18.

Taken them and destroyed the cute packages.

Oh my lanta. I have never been so upset. I called Brent and vented before I discipled her. Heck, Grandma came to watch beckham while I took her to her special preschool. I still hadn't discipled her. Usually consequences are easy for me. I'm not a Crazy disciplinarian but I for sure believe that there needs to be a consequence to our actions when they are wrong so our little ones learn life's not all about doing whatever we want. 

I was stumped and heart was bleeding. All I wanted was to do something special for her. Now I had to discipline her-bah. 

She got a time out. (A big one)

She is going to start a sweet cleanse. A week of no treats, sweets or anything sugary. She will learn that unless we ask permission we can't just eat whatever we want. Treats are just that. A treat. You need to earn them. Not just eat 18 boxes of popcorn. 

Cheers to hopefully a smooth week of chatting about food boundaries with my 4 year old. Hopefully I don't crash and burn hahaha

Audrey is 4

4 years ago. On this very day. My midwifed had mercy on my poor pregnant body and soul. They decided to induce me and help bring along the best gift I could have received at the end of a long and tiring pregnancy. My Audrey bounded into the world. She was 9lbs 10oz and 22 inches long. She was vibrant right from the start. Brent and I always joke that she skipped the newborn stage. She wasn't the typical sleepy newborn. She slept great at night but was WIDE awake during the day. She introduced me to motherhood with a BANG! She had me running right from day 1. We also always said that she was ready to walk straight from the womb-she hit her milestones at such speed it had us so proud and googling like mad-haha the week to week 'what to expect' was totally off...usually by MONTHS because she would jump ahead like crazy! So funny! 

Fast forward 4 years.

I genuinely love all my time with my princess. My heart hurts when I have to discipline her but I want to shape her into a beautiful young woman with healthy boundaries and respect for others. She is always full of life, adventure, hope, dreams and mischief. She is a perfect addition to our family. I couldn't have dreamed of a better daughter. She has taught me so much about myself and who I want to be already. It's amazing what wise words a four year old can have. As well as some sassy ones to-as I'm sure you can imagine. I'm pretty sure I wasn't as smart as her when I was four. 

She has such a kind heart and when she loves she loves with all her heart. She is a giver. She is a people pleaser. She is such a good friend and everyone that knows her always is smitten by her vivacious personality. 

I am so so so proud of my Audrey. I hope one day when she reads this she will know how very much I loved her ever since I peed on that very first pregnancy test. 

I am so so so excited for what the next year holds for my very sweet Audrey!

Saturday mornings

With Brent working most Saturdays (let's be honest...&sundays) 

This is what my mornings on the weekends look like. Skip the chores, sneak some extra crazy cuddles

Beach bums

With our yard being off limits we have lived at the beach at parks this past couple weeks.

Home Depot workshop

So, going on week a bazillion of Brent working 7 days a week till 8:30/9pm. For some reason I have to get a lil more creative on weekends. So I don't feel so sad about single parenting it. Also gives my week some variation.

This weekend I signed us up for the 'kids Home Depot workshop'. Seriously-it's free. I'm going to do it every time it's offered. It was excellent. They get a little 'home depot apron' and a 'special pin' for every project they complete, so they can collect them. 

Today they made a plant box thing. Very discriptive right? Haha. It's blessed me in three ways. Kept us busy until 11am! Now after naptime they get to paint the 'bottom' part and then tomorrow morning I will let them plant the plant we bought for it! That's THREE activities...for virtually FREE! Well, that's a lie. I paid .59 cents for each plant for the kids. They are veggie plants so I'm actually debating throwing in a bulb we have leftover from our Mother's Day craft instead. Then that would make it 'free-ish' since we had already purchased the bulbs for grandmas gift!

Anyways. All in all...GREAT fun!

Audrey did most of it all on her own (including the hammering) I just had to tell her what to do. Beckham on the other hand-he's two still...he gave me a couple anxious moments but all in all did fabulous. If Brent was there and we were working 1 on 1 with the kids it would have been flawless!!

Audrey&Ballet

For Audrey's birthday grandma and I 'bought' her 'ballet school' something Audrey had been wanting for a very long time. Grandma is taking her half the time and I'm taking her half the time.

She was absolutely thrilled and totally in her element. This is the first time she went to a 'real' ballet class and not just one put on by our township. 

Sustaining the toddlers

My kids could eat all day.

Alllllll day.

I've started ( month or so ago ) giving them breakfast and after a smoothy or protein shake to help sustain them to a reasonable snack time. It's actually been fabulous! I get a solid hour after breakfast before the begging for a snack commences (before it was 10 mins!)

Mothers Day Tea 2014

Audrey has been dancing around singing for the past couple weeks. She has had so much excitement for this Mother's Day tea. She tried SO hard keeping it a surprise! Her eyes glowed with excitement and anticipation. She could hardly wait.

This morning when I told her that today was the day. The day that mommy was coming to preschool to have a tea party with her she could hardly contain herself.

The difference between her and I is that at age 3 you don't have the skill of masking your excitement. I mask mine a little better. (Not that much better haha).

Four years ago this lil firecracker made me a mama. It has been the biggest blessing. I never imagined that life would be like this. I never imagined that I would feel this way. I love who she has become. I love being apart of her journey. 

I am so glad I get to wake up and see her face. So glad I get to be her mom. So glad that I get to raise her. So glad that I get to mold her into a young lady. So glad that we get to experience life together. So glad that I get to know her. So glad that I get to kiss her ouchies. So glad that I get to dance with her. So glad that I my name is the first one she thinks of asking for. So glad I get to teach her. So glad I get to teach her about Jesus and how to pray. So glad that I get to help her choose how she wants to live her life. So glad I get to be apart of her journey. So glad I get to cheer her on. So glad I get to be there for all her big moments. 

Being this sweet mischievous firecrackers mama is the best thing that happened to me in 2010. It is one of my top 3 moments in my life. 

I really hope I can the best mom possible to her, I also hope that she can always forgive me in my failings (because they are frequent).

Thumb sucking woes

So we have been slacking. We hadn't been taping the sucks on because Audrey seemed to 'get it'. She litterly couldn't fall asleep this past month without the 'sick gloves' on.

So I took at look at her thumb while cutting here nails......

She has litterly regressed&progressed. She admitted that at night she keeps her sock gloves on but slips her thumb out the bottom and still sucks her thumb. Her thumb nail is basically falling off. It's so wild. I actually have never seen anything like it. She's not a 'traditional' thumb sucker. She doesn't really 'suck' she mostly open and closes her mouth on her thumb. Sounds weird, right. I guess in that process she is essentially wearing down the nail to the point of falling off. 

To be perfectly honest. This past 3 weeks Brent has been working till 8:30/9pm and I'm exhausted with him working 7 days a week. So silly I know. I'm sort of single mom-ing it during this season. I'm trying to stay on top of it but honestly it's so easy to let things slide. 

I picked up 

And have been taping her up and spraying her thumbs with this.

Fingers crossed. Don't want a Princess who lost her thumbnail just because mommy was to tired to be on top of it.