Funny Things Kids Say - Part 4

• We were headed out to celebrate Marley's birthday but her party wasn't until the weekend so we brought her a little gift.  We see Marley and he immediately tells her to hurry up and open her present and that it was a Dora book.  He didn't stop there, he also told her that we had a game to bring her later.  Actually, it was polly pockets but he though it was a game.  

• We were practicing our letters by reading the big letters in the kids room and for cooper he spelt it:  c, circle, circle, p, e, r.

• I had been bugging Grady about cutting his nails and he continuously refused.  He asked me for a chocolate chip and I told him if he had a raspberry first (remember that Grady does NOT like fruit so it is a chore to eat even raspberries).  He instead told me that he would let me cut my nails instead.  That's my little master negotiator.  I am afraid that I did agree to it I was that desperate to cut his nails!

• Grady has been known to yell out O-M-G.  He gets this from me.  Often it is in relation to his poops. Remember that he still poops in diapers and at 3 years old they are very big and very stinky.  He asks me after most diaper changes if it is an O-M-G poop.  It is quite obvious what I say after an exceptionally gross diaper change!

• He may have gotten OMG from me but he got 'holy sh*t' from his father.  Enough said.

• I call the boys Mr. Grady and Mr. Cooper every so often and Grady has started calling me Mr. Mommy.

• One day we were sitting on the couch and Grady told me I was the best girl.  Melt. my. heart.

• I can't remember the circumstances, but I must have used some colorful language as we were coming down the stairs and he asked me what 'buck' was.  Mental note:  Must work on language around children.  

• Once Grady started school I started asking him why he was still sucking his thumb since he told me he was going to quit when he went to school.  What does he reply?  That he is hungry.
• Note:  Grady may have kicked this habit, however, I am not ready to blog about it prematurely.  Remember this post.

If you ever lose Cooper...

Don't forget to check the cupboards!!

Extended Family Photos

When we were back home visiting my family last month we had the chance to take another round of family picture.  Last summer we had pictures done for my mom for Mother's Day and we have since added 3 members to our family.

Chantelle - my brother's fabulous fiance who will officially be joining the family next summer when they get married.  I have the pleasure of welcoming her to the family.  And I of course will be wearing one of my fantastic new dresses to thier wedding!

Taiya - My brother and Chantelle's super cute daughter who puts Cooper to shame by already being a better sleeper than him at 6 months.

Cooper - My adorable son who I was pregnant with in last year's picture. Need I say more?

Linsday Rae Photography did a fantastic job on the pictures and I loved just getting the opportunity to spend some time with everyone and having a few photos to show for it!

Not the best picture of our family but the best will be appearing on our xmas card ;)

The one thing I didn't consider is how hard it was going to be to work with 4 kids.  My brother's girls did great - especially Madi who is a natural in front of the camera.  My kids... not so much.

Cooper didn't sleep great that week so I am blaming his lack of smiles in any of the pictures on that.

Grady either didn't smile of did his 'cheese' face in every picture.

Best one of the 2 boys

My brother's family all wore pink.  Apparently I missed the memo that said my family was supposed to wear blue since we were mostly boys and his family was supposed to wear pink because they were mostly girls.  I wore pink anyway!

Good Lookin' Family

See what I mean about his kids being naturals!

Aren't my nieces just he cutest???

And finally a picture of all the grandkids.  Not the greatest... but what can you expect with 4 kids.  At least none of them are crying (yet) and most are looking at the camera.  I'm not sure what Grady is staring at blankly.

My brother and I's offspring

I hope we can keep updating these family pictures over the years as it is such a great keepsake for everyone.

Thanks for organizing Mom!

Fall is my Favorite Season....

... Especially when you can wear shorts still!!

Girls Trip - Phoenix Edition 2011

I heart Cacti. I had not seen a real cactus until this trip.

The photo ahead is taken from my friend S's back yard in Peoria, Arizona. We are obviously on the edge of the city - but have you seen a better desert view? I love Cacti. I learned through our many conversations during trips to the mall that cacti don't have arms until they are really old, like 50 or 100 years.

One of many long car rides

Another great thing about the trip was the introduction to Cheladas. I am sure there are many Saskie's out there like me that go to the US and have no drink to order since their drink of choice is also Beer and Clam. Enter the Chelada.

It is a pre mixed Bud Light and the perfect amount of Clamato. I am a picky beer and clam drinker. It must be extra clam and it must not be spicy even though I am a huge fan of spicy food. When my friend J was raving about the Chelada, I was unsure. I was less than unsure, I was doubtful that it could taste anything like the ones I mix myself. We went to Walmart (or Target, I can't remember) to grab some bevies for post shopping, which is apparently blush wine, and J bought many Cheladas. I bought one. Well these drinks are fantastic and I should have bought more. The best part is the can is the equivalent of 2 beers and you can even buy them in gas stations....

Best. Invention. Ever.

A fellow Saskie enjoying her Chelada

Another great invention was the SUV. How else would we have carried around our purchases? What did we do for 3 days you ask?

We shopped.

And shopped.

And shopped.

Yes, C actually fell on top of all the bags.

And then shopped some more.

Yes, I am imitating her.

I have never shopped like I did over the weekend. It was excessive. It was perfect. It was just what I needed.

One of my most debated purchases was my new purse. I walked around DSW carrying this purse. I asked my friends over and over if I should buy it. I even put it down on a shelf and walked away only to see it out of the corner of my eye and went back and picked it back up. We were in DSW for a long time. I finally bit the bullet and bought it. No regrets.

Motto of the weekend: If there is any doubt, just buy it!

After it was actually paid for and we got to the car I was super pumped. Three out of four of us bought purses.

I switched purses in the car on the way to the mall.

Enter Happy Christy

C changed purses in the car.

Doesn't her smile say it all?

S had to drive.

Someone had to drive us to the mall!

When I say we went shopping I mean we went marathon shopping. I got an email from James while I was away asking if we were seriously shopping again. On the longest day we left the house before 11and got home at 10pm. In that time we hit DSW (the best shoe store evah) and the Fashion Square Mall in Scottsdale, we also ate lunch and supper at the mall. As I am typing this is sounds crazy, but it was oh so much fun. I realize now I have never been on a shopping only trip where your main goal is to go the mall and spend money. The great part is that after a particularly good store where everyone has success, ahem DSW, everyone gets gitty and we have really good laughs.

Another memorable moment for me was my dress shopping in BCBG, a store I never go into in Calgary because it is too expensive and really how many dressy dresses does one girl need? At the outlet malls I separated from the group for the last hour to get some gifts for all 3 of my boys and I apparently did it rather quickly. While waiting I popped into BCBG to browse while killing the last 10 minutes. And before you know it I had more dresses in my change room than i could handle. I sent a quick email to the other girls and we all of them came in and most joined in on the dress-a-thon. While I made out the best with 2 dresses, i wasn't the only one to make purchases in that last store!

What I loved about it was it made me feel like I was in university again. Trying on dresses I didn't really need and actually feeling like I looked decent in them. Recently I have been struggling with the transition from young and care free to old and frumpy. When I looked in the mirror with those dresses on I felt good. Yes, they were frivolous purchases but the dresses made me feel like a woman rather than a just a mom. Exactly the feeling I was hoping to achieve on the trip. Thankfully I have James' upcoming xmas party and at least 3 weddings next year to wear the dresses to.

We didn't only shop. We also spent an afternoon by the pool. Most of us in the shade. My oh my do I feel old. Since when do I sit in the shade instead of soaking in the rays? That is the way I roll these days. The heat was just so intense I couldn't bear to sit in direct sunlight. Even in a bathing suit. The best part of sitting by the pool was reading a book uninterrupted for more than 10 minutes and not right before bed. And it was a trashy book about yummy mummy's which was so suitable for a girls trip!

As with every trip that I have been on childless in the past 3 years, I didn't sleep enough. There is so much to do when you are on vacation - why sleep? I was up around 8am each day and believe it or not I wasn't ever the first one. I was also never the last. What I find nice about sleep with no kids is knowing that whether you get enough sleep is up to you and a guarantee of no night time child wakings!

I could have gone to bed early. Instead I stayed up late drinking wine and Cheladas.

I could have slept later. Instead the wine and Cheladas made my sleep choppy and not very good.

I could have taken naps. But let's be serious, I don't even nap at home.

Instead I enjoyed every single minute of my childless vacation. I got to know my friends a little bit better, I ate ate good food, I drank cheap wine, I shopped, I laughed, I ate chips, I didn't do my hair, I partially did my make up, and I missed my husband and kids like crazy.

Grady was thrilled to see me on Monday morning and especially excited to know what I brought back for him. I am not even sure Cooper knew I was gone. He was happy to see me but no more so than any other morning.

Grady understood that I was on vacation and that I was coming back so me leaving was not a big deal. But I think he was affected more than I thought given that we spend every day together. The night after I got home, despite not napping, he would not settle. He was restless and just not interested in going to bed. Finally I let him lay on my bed while I unpacked my suitcase and put the clothes away. Then he came with me downstairs and sat beside me hugging my arm while he watched TV and I started this post. Every 5 minutes he told me how happy he was that I was home or how happy he was to see me. And even an occasional I love you. At that moment, I didn't care that it was 9pm and he should have been in bed hours ago, I was soaking in every second of it. My son missed me. He didn't say it in those exact words but he said it just the same. That is what being a parent is about.

Finally, I want to say how lucky I am to have a husband willing to stay at home with the kids. Especially 2 kids that had diarrhea for the first 2 days I was away. He actually said that he enjoyed it! The kids must have been on their very best behavior for Daddy as he had very few bad thing to say! I challenged him to do a guest blog on his experience with the kids over the weekend. I am still waiting to see whether the challenge is accepted :)

Now to finish up this rather long post. I would like to direct you to the picture below.

The cactus in front of S's house

In typical girl trip fashion, I referred to this cactus as a cucumber while another may have referred to it as something entirely different..... Any guesses?

Kayben Farms

Last week we headed to Kayben Farms and what a good day it was.  Who can complain when it is mid September and the sun is shining and it is 25 degrees outside?  We loaded up the snacks and drinks and headed down south to see what the farms had to offer. It did not disappoint.

We started off at this bouncy thing.  I don't even know what to call it and this picture does not do it justice.  It is HUGE.  This was on the way into the farm.  On the way out James and I went on to after seeing other adults on it.  It was so much fun.  What a great idea for the kids.  Grady would have had so much fun on it with a friend.

Next up was the slide.  Less than 2 months ago Grady was scared of slides. He wouldn't even go down a medium sized one at the park without holding on to someone's hand.  He has comes leaps and bounds over this past summer.

The slide out there was big so he was a little unsure at first and made Dad go down with him.

He got a little more brave as Nana encouraged him from the bottom.

Before long he was going all by himself.

Again and again and AGAIN.   The slide was by far the highlight of the farm for Grady. We actually had to do a 'grab and go' when we were leaving, meaning James grabbed him kicking and screaming and we left.  We got as far as the bouncy house and we decided to let him bounce a few minutes before leaving.  Then we did another 'grab and go'.

These horse swings were hanging from the structure the slide is built in to.  It appears that Grady is enjoying the swing and in fact he stayed on it a total of 30 seconds before insisting he wanted to go back on the slide.  Again.

On the way to the corn maze we stopped to feed the goats.  Grady was uneasy but Cooper loved them. He squealed like he did for the dogs when we were visiting my mom.  It turns out we may not only have an dog lover on our hands but a full fledged animal lover.  Now that is opposite from our older son!

Here is Cooper taking in the animals from my back.  Check out all 3 of his teeth. If that 4th tooth that is just hovering below the surface maybe we could all start sleeping a little better at our house.  Maybe that is wishful thinking.

Here we are at the start of the corn maze.  It reminded James of a horror movie.  Maybe that is why Grady didn't like it!  It was deserted at the maze.  We didn't see a single person in it.  Keep in mind though that we were in it less than 5 minutes.  Grady wasn't a big fan.

I was impressed with the farm and what it had to offer.  The fact that we had to grab and go with Grady twice to get out of the farm tells me that he had a good time to.  James on the other hand thought there wasn't enough stuff out there.  I figure as long long as Grady is happy so am I so I forsee another trip out there again next year!

Not a photographer.

I'm thinking

Grady has some work to do

behind the camera.

Maybe he'll be 

an accountant after all.

Our Sasky Summer Vacation 2011

What did we do in SK for 10 days you ask?

Well let me tell you...

Cooper and Taiya got re-acquainted.  Cooper refused to share his spoon with her.  He is after all the 'big' kid in this duo. Unlike with his brother....

We went to Grandma's park across the street.  How convenient is that??

We chased dogs.  Don't be fooled.  Grady did not love Layla and Boomer at first and needed to be carried around for the first few days.  He came around better and faster this trip than he has in the past.

Cooper loved both dogs right from the get go.  He just couldn't get enough of them.  He would squeal with delight each and every time they entered the room.  

We went swimming at Grandpa Lorne's pool. 

The big kids went down the water slide.  Grady of course went down holding someones hand but boy am I proud of him for even trying it.  

They went off the diving board to.

Great jump Madi!!

Grady made Aunty Kolby work really hard swimming around with the chair that he jumped and slid into.  What a great idea!

Don't worry, Cooper was well taken care of on the grass while the big kids had their fun in the water.

Very well taken care of.

Grady loved the pool until he discovered the hot tub was much warmer.  He didn't go in the pool at all after the hot tub.  Can you blame him?

We did get into the slip and slide again this trip.  Grady did an alternate version since he still hasn't mastered sliding on his own.  We picked one up at Walmart for next summer for $10.  Can't wait to bring it out for G and his friends!

At the end of a great day of swimming, all the boys and Kolby (picture courtesy of her) took off to look at the BIG trucks where uncle Joel's Dad works.  I wasn't there, but I can only imagine how excited our little man was.  He even got to go inside the ones he wanted.  Little boy heaven I tell you!

Next up was the circus.  We went into this not knowing what to expect.  We figured this was a great venue to try it since it was outdoors and wouldn't be at busy.  It certainly wasn't busy!  I really enjoyed the circus despite no wild animals due to new border regulations they are apparently fighting.

We bought Grady cotton candy so he could get the full experience.  He touched it once and said it was too sticky.  It was no where near as tasty as I remember it being.  They also didn't make it fresh in front of you so it could have been old.

We got popcorn instead.

At intermission we got our photos taken with the clown and his car.  He actually fit in the car.  Impressive.  We paid $5 for the pictures that you take with your OWN camera.

Then we went to Grandma's park some more.

We also made it to the lake.  Cooper appears to hate it in this picture.

But in reality he loved it!

Grady stuck to skipping rocks with Grandma.  Although Dad seemed to be the pro at rock skipping.

Both boys napped on the way home.  Cooper did a lot of power napping in the car that week which led to the demise of his napping.

Grady eventually came around and grew to love Layla half of what Cooper did.

We went out to little red.  I have tons of memories at little red tobogganing, climbing the sand hill (that is now too steep to even think of climbing and ends right in the river) and having wiener roasts.  I also got stung by a bee out there when I was little.  My first and only time.  I remember the exact spot it was so traumatic.  Some of my memories involve sledding and beer.  That was obviously when I was a tad bit older.  

Grady was most excited about the swinging bridge.  Well any bridge for that matter and we walked across 3.

Love this pic of me and my little men.  If only Grady would have looked at the camera...

We went to Ruckers in Saskatoon with Madi.  I think James had more fun then Grady for the record.

We met baby Amelia.

Played with our friends for which I have no decent photos.

And before we knew it, it was time to go home.

Notice my techie son with his TV, Ipad, and Iphone tucked in the carseat.  How did our parents do road trips without all the gear we have now?

We came home exhausted and happy.  Well we were happy the next day. Who is really happy after 6 hours in the car.

I hope that our yearly trip to SK to visit both friends and family is one that we are able to uphold for the time being.  One that the kids moan and groan about but secretly enjoy every second of.  How could they not?  They are treated like gold everywhere we go and are spoiled rotten at each and every stop.  Who am I kidding - they won't even be able to pretend they don't like it.