Another Birthday

Today is my birthday - Happy birthday to me :)

Birthday's don't bother me yet.  Yesterday I was 32 and today I am 33.  Although I sometimes feel that my body has started to fail me since turning 30.  I have had eye problem, knee problems, and more grey hair wrinkles that stare back at me in the mirror.  I look in the mirror and think I look the same as I did the day I graduated university.  I obviously know that is not true, but I feel like that same young gal who liked to have fun with her friends drink beer on a patio on a sunny afternoon.

Then when I look a little closer I can see the signs of my 33 years.  It isn't a bad thing, just reality.  I often look at my wedding picture that hangs on our bedroom wall as I wait for James to finish brushing his teeth and think about how young we look.  Wasn't that just yesterday?  Right... it was almost 7 years and 2 kids ago.

I sometimes wonder if it is actually my kids that make me feel old and not actually my age.  Is it the lack of sleep that puts the bags under my eyes and make then a little bloodshot after a sleepless night?  Can 4 years of sleep deprivation cause you to put on a little less make up and wear more pony tails because you need that extra 15 minutes sleeps. 

As long as I feel young I am content with it. Age after all is just a number.

So on to my day, since it is Monday I had the day off and we had a play date planned with friends.  We brought out the pool and enjoyed a sunny morning watching the boys play in the water while little sister napped in the shade.  Cooper fell asleep in the swing for the second time in the past week when I swear he has never done that before.  Then the big boys played nicely while I had a great visit with a great friend.  Couldn't ask for a better way to spend my birthday.

Just because it was my birthday, the busyness of our household didn't slow down.  Grady had soccer and Dad, Nana, and Grandma were all there to cheer him on with Cooper and I.

We rushed home to order pizza, eat cake, and open presents.  Grady sang me the best and loudest Happy Birthday I have ever heard and blew out all 3 of my candles after telling me that I was old.  

It was so nice to have my Mom here to celebrate my birthday with me this year.  Our day home is closed next week so my Mom came out to watch the boys while we get back to work.  

As I type this we are sitting on the couch watching the bachelor pad - my guilty summer pleasure.  And with that - this birthday gal is calling it a day.

Things I love about Summer

1.  Bachelor Pad.  Did you see the premier this week?  I just love watching trashy brainless TV in the summer (and all year!).  I love the drama, the gossiping and especially the chance at finding love. I am a romantic at heart. 

2.  Beer and Clam.  Nothing Beats a beer and clam on a hot summer afternoon. Nothing.

3.  BBQ'ing.  I love everything about the BBQ, but I LOVE burgers on the BBQ with lots and lots of mustard.  James will often make himself a big juicy steak and throw on a burger for me.  I am simple like that.

4.  Watching the kids play in the pool.  I love watching the kids laugh and smile as they splash around in our backyard pool.  I don't enjoy the screaming and tears the eventually happen when one gets splashed in the face....

5.  Big Brother.  How can you not enjoy a show that comes on 3 times a week when there is nothing else on.  I love watching the ridiculous challenges and often think I would do pretty good on that show. I think I would have a great social game.  James disagrees.

6.  Weddings.  I know most people disagree but I love going to a wedding in the summer.  You get all prettied up and celebrate 2 people in love with dinner and wine.  Remember, I am the romantic :)

7.  Sunshine. I love that the sun is up when I get up.  When you have kids that get up at the crack of dawn it is nice to not have it pitch black out. That is depressing.  Instead, the sun is up and the birds are chirping.  It makes for a happier start to the day. 

8.  Birthdays!  Staring with Nana's, then Grady's, followed by Grandpa Lorne's, Uncle Dave, then mine.  And still yet there is Uncle James and then James.  Our summer's are full of cake, party hats, ice cream, and presents.

9.  Calaway Park.   Our kids love Calaway Park in the summer.  We have passes and go as often as can but this summer have only made it once with plans to go this week.  Grady is getting braver but still is very cautious and doesn't like to go by himself.

10.  Longer days.  I love that we can play outside after supper or hit up a park or just play in the yard.  The possibilities are endless when the sun sets after the kids go to bed and the sun is shining.

Why can't it be summer all year long?

Vacation True or False

We spent a sunny vacation in Kelowna last week.
TRUE.  We had a great time and loved our resort.  We are already planning our next trip!  It reminded me so much of being in Hawaii with great views, a pool, and hot weather.

 
We flew to Kelowna.
FALSE.  We decided to load up the van drive 8 hour (10 hours with a stop at a couple parks and the enchanted forest) to our vacation condo.  At first I wanted to fly and James didn't, then James wanted to fly and I didn't.  The kids actually did pretty good on both long drives.  Not many complaints here.  In the last hour of the first trip I swear Grady asked if we were 'there yet' every minute at a minimum.

On the drive the kids enjoyed coloring, especially themselves.

TRUE. First Cooper colored his arms.  One would expect that from a one year old.  Then before you know it Grady's legs were covered in the same marker, which wasn't exactly washable we found out the during bath time.

On the first morning, the kids slept in until 8am.
FALSE.  The first morning the kids slept until 6am BC time, which was 7am Calgary time.  I thought it was great!  Apparently the people downstairs didn't as they started banging on the ceiling at 7:30.  Whatever.

Grady went down his first water slide.
TRUE.  That should be an easy one if you read my previous post.  Grady loved the water slides as long as they weren't too big.  We went to a spray park later in the week and there was a water slide there to.  Grady was in heaven!

Cooper loved the water slides.
FALSE.  We took Cooper down a slide or 2 but he wasn't diggin' it.

The kids weren't crazy about the pool so we only went for a quick swim each day.
FALSE.  If we were at the condo, the kids wanted to swim.  Grady started swimming by himself with water wings and Cooper equally loved being in the water.

We brought Cooper shopping wearing only his diaper and I was embarrassed.
TRUE and FALSE.  We DID bring Cooper into a meat shop as it was about to close and Coopers shorts were drenched from the water slides BUT it was JAMES that was embarrassed, not me!

We took a drive just so the kids would have a nap.
TRUE!  Cooper didn't nap for 2 days for various reasons and Grady kept falling asleep in the car during short commutes but wouldn't lay down so we loaded them in the car after an afternoon swim and they both napped.  Grady transferred into the house and slept on the couch (that is how tired he was) through Cooper's longest and loudest tantrum ever.  I can't decide if the nap was worth it or not.

I enjoyed 3 beer on the patio while Grady colored at the outside table.
FALSE.  I only had 2 beer and clam and they were delicious.  Nothing beats a cold beer on a hot day.

I started reading '50 Shades of Grey' on vacation.
FALSE.  James did!  I brought a Bloom by Kelle Hampton to read and 50 Shades as my second book.  James got bored and picked it up.  He read quite a bit but claims he didn't get to a steamy part.  I will be reclaiming my book tonight!

We took the kids to the winery and went on an hour long tour.
FALSE.  Are you kidding?  We DID go to the mission hill winery and bought a few bottles of wine and walked around the lovely grounds.  But a tour? With my wild boys?  I don't think so.  Here is a picture on the beautiful grounds.

We ate almost all our meals as a family on the patio.
TRUE.  It was so nice to eat as a family as we often don't at home.  The kids eat, I usually eat with them, and James eats when he gets home.  The kids have been entertaining conversationalists and made meal time interesting.

We didn't eat lunch or supper out in Kelowna, not even once.
TRUE.  We were going to go a few times but the kids were so rowdy and so off schedule that neither was brave enough to attempt it.  We did go to McDonalds twice.  The first time was to get ice cream and play on their play structure.  Grady requested a trip back to play (not eat) so we had breakfast on our second last day when Cooper got up at 4:30 am.  We were in the play area by 7am and stayed well over an hour.

I wore my hair in a pony tail all day every day and didn't put on any makeup.
TRUE.  That was the best part of this vacation.  We had no babysitter so no means to go anywhere fancy.  When you are going in the pool twice a day there is no point in trying to look presentable - and I loved that!

There was another 4 year old boy named Grady staying at the same resort.
TRUE.  I have only ever heard of 5 other boys with the same name and never one that we have actually had contact with one.  The Dad told me this was the first time they ever ran into another Grady, who first name was actually Grayden.  I think it confused Grady to hear is name being called from multiple directions.

We loved Kelowna!
TRUE TRUE TRUE!

Waterslides

Grady has been obsessed with water slides for coming on one year.  He loves to watch you tube videos of other kids going down water slides and he loves to watch other people going down, but he himself had never been on one.... until this week.

It didn't happen fast, but by the end of the afternoon he was all over it.

At first, he didn't want to go on the water slides at all.  Believe me, the smallest kids one was so slow that you had to push your self down at some points.

Next, he went with James on the slowest one.

Then, he tried the faster kids slide with James.  Still not that fast.

Next, he went by himself and got caught by one of us at the bottom.

Finally, he went all by himself!!

By this time, 2 hours had passed and it was almost time to hit the road.  At this point he was literally going down the slides, swimming (with water wings) to the stairs and running back up the stairs.   He didn't even need us except to cheer him on.

Grady even agreed to go down a normal sized slide with James.  When Cooper and I watched him come down he looked scared.  He said he liked it, but wouldn't go again.

When asked if he wanted to go again he said no.

Upon leaving the water park he told us the big one was his favorite.

I am so proud of him.  He has wanted to water slide for so long and he finally faced his fears and had huge rewards.  As proud as I was of him, the best part of the day was seeing him so proud of himself.

Brotherly Love

Is it possible that my boys, the ones that are usually fighting and screaming at each other, actually {{gasp}} like each other?

It is almost like it happened over night. As Cooper has gotten older and enjoys playing the same things as Grady, they have actually started to enjoy each others company. Where in the past they would fight over the same toy or scream bloody murder if they didn't get what they want, they now seem to have this thing they call sharing figured out a little better.

Don't get me wrong, they still fight. Boy, do they fight. But while I pudder in the kitchen making dinner or unloading the dishwasher, if I listen while the boys play I will hear Grady talking to Cooper. Asking him questions, giving him toys, and trying to engage him in conversation.

At this stage, Cooper is pretty agreeable being that his only words are Mom and Yeah. That makes life pretty easy.

It is music to this mommy's ears.

One day we were playing in the basement and Grady told me that Cooper was his bestest friend. I don't remember what we were doing or why he said it. But he did in fact say it somewhat unprompted and it simply made my heart melt. I want nothing more than for my boys to grow up best friends and for that friendship to last well beyond the years they live under the same roof.
Each time they play nicely or share a toy I am reminded that they are already starting to form that relationship.

In the past few months while life has been busy for us, I have been doing a few more morning drop offs at daycare. This is normally James' job and I am so happy that I don't have to do it everyday as it is not an easy job. I have noticed that the drop off is significantly better when they go together.

They each get one 'Nana Day' a week where she takes them out to do something special and they spend the day playing at her house while the other one goes to daycare. On those days, the one that goes to daycare has a hard time. At first I thought it was jealousy. I thought that Grady was jealous that Cooper got to go to Nana's and he didn't. I've now realized that Grady just wants Cooper to be at daycare with him.

Now I pay attention when I drop them off. When Cooper went by himself and my shirt was wet when I left because Cooper cried so hard. The day before, Grady was shy and timid going in even though he has been there for almost 7 months.


When I dropped them both off and they took off inside running with smiles on their face. No kiss, no hug, nothing but a big smiles. I asked Cooper to blow me a kiss and both boys came running back to give me a big hug and kiss before going back to play. What a difference.

They are brothers, and friends, and life is better when they are together. Yes, they fight. They fight a lot. Cooper still bites gives shark kisses when he gets mad. Grady still hits Cooper when he is less than impressed with his brother. Despite the fact that they don't always like each other, they find comfort in being together.

And I like that.

Stampede 2012

Although you wouldn't know it by my blog, the Stampede is in full swing and day 8 is drawingn to a close.  It isn't that we haven't been out taking in the events... I just haven't taken the time to upload any of the pictures that I have taken this week and put together a post that made any sense.

James grew up here and stampede has always been a part of his life.  I, on the other hand, have only been here for 10 years and the stampede has been associated with going to the bar and drinking for as many nights in a row as you can while not losing your job.  Now that I have kids, I am trying to figure out how to enjoy the stampede in more a family way.

Although I still do take at least one night during the week to hit the grounds and drink some beers with my friends or co-workers.....

We have decided not to take the kids to the parade or the grounds yet.  I don't think my kids would survive the 3 hour long parade plus the commute of getting there and back.  I think Grady would actually enjoy the grounds but Cooper is still a bit of a handful so we are waiting another year or 2 before attempting that.
One tradition that we have started is taking the kids to a weekend stampede breakfast.  There are several every day and who doesn't like free (or next to free) pancake and sausage breakfast? 

This picture was taken before we left for the breakfast.  Notice that we couldn't completely get rid of the McQueen shirt but we did manage to 'country it up' with a plaid shirt and a cowboy hat that stayed on his head exactly long enough for me take this picture.

Yes, he did put on pants before we left.  Remember, pants are optional at our house if you are less than 5!

Cooper wanted nothing to do with his hat.

Out of the 2 of us, James goes out more than I do. he changed jobs about 2 years ago and is in a very social role where he attends a lot of events with work. He generally has at least 1 event a day which means I have been spending a lot of time 'quality' with the kids. I called Tuesday as my night to go out and he more than happily picked up the kids so I could have my night out.

I went to the rodeo with work. They were the best seats that I have ever had. This picture was taken from my seat with no zoom. We were that close.

We were also uncovered.

It was 30 degrees and hot. Thankfully we also had sunscreen.

Here is a hot and sweaty cowgirl after the rodeo.  And many cold beer.

This was my first Stampede downtown where I wasn't pregnant or on maternity leave in probably 4 years so I figured I could probably use some new stampede duds. I was walking through the mall this morning and noticed a rack of plaid shirts for $10 each. So what did I do? I bought 3.

Still debating which one I should wear for my last day of cowgirl attire tomorrow......

Yippee!

My Day

On paper, today looked like a great day.

It was my day off.
It was 30 degrees today.
We were headed to the wading pool and park with great friends.
We started summer soccer.
It is Bachelorette night.
And the list could go on.

In reality, it was an awful day.  The morning outing was actually great and it just all went down hill from there.

Cooper didn't nap.
Grady needed a nap and didn't sleep.
Grady spent plenty of time in his room for misbehaving.
I lost my temper more than once.
I felt guilty.
I felt like a bad Mom.

The heat got the best of all of us.

After a big fight with each kid to get them into bed at reasonable hour I am sitting in front of the TV eating pizza, drinking wine, and watching the Bachelorette. 

It is funny that a show like the Bachelorette can calm me down and make me relax.  So many people make fun of it and call it trashy but for me it is just the medicine I need at the end of a day like today.

That and wine.

Here's hoping tomorrow is a better day than today.

The Pool

After months of asking when we could take the pool out, we finally dragged it out yesterday.

The water was cold,

t

but the kids didn't seem to care.

I hope for many more summer afternoons,

Just. like. this. one.

Canada Day Festivities 2012

We had the pleasure of spending Canada day weekend in Canmore with our family Friends, John and Stacey and their boys. this was the view from our balcony. 

In my 8 years of living in Calgary I have never spent the weekend in Canmore. We have spent several nights in Banff but never Canmore. I wish we would have done it sooner! It is that much closer to the city and you don't have to pay to get in the park. Not to mention the views are just as spectacular!!

Upon arrival we checked out the place and Grady ran around screaming like he had never seen a TV, a phone, and even a garbage can before!  He was obviously excited for our 'vacation in the mountains' as he called it!

While Cooper napped, Grady and I headed to the hot tub both days.  All decked out in his McQueen suit and new shirt he enjoyed the too hot water by getting out and running around every so often.  If only I could have convinced him to go in the pool.....

While we were waiting for Cooper to rise from his slumber, Grady worked on his photography skills.  He took a few and this was by far the best one.

We are just going to pretend that he was trying to get the mountains in the picture as well....

Once the 'P' family arrived we headed out to dinner.  I didn't get a picture because the 4 boys were crazy.  There had just been a sun shower and lots of puddles on the patio.  The kids didn't want to eat, they wanted to puddle jump, look at the flower, and run.  We ate as fast as possible and headed to the nearest park.

This was a great park.  There was a little one for the young kids and a bigger park for the older kids.  Kind of like the water slides, Grady wanted nothing more than to go down the tunnel slide at the park.  All the other kids were doing it and Grady was just to scared.  When he was up top by himself, he would get on the slide than promptly get up when another kid would come running up.  This went on for over an hour.  Finally I went down with him.  He still wouldn't go down.  So I did something that would either result in him loving the slide or absolutely hating it. 

I put him in feet first down the slide and reached my arms down as far as possible and let him go.  We waited for him to come out the other side and it turns out it was the right thing to do.  After going one more time like that he absolutely loved it and couldn't get enough.

He was so proud of himself and wanted to go down over and over and over. I was so proud of him for overcoming his fear. He talked about this park all weekend and we went 3 more times after this visit. When we got home he even asked when we would go back to the 'tunnel park'. by far the highlight for him!

We got up first thing on July first and got on our matching shirts... well for the boys any way.  It took a little convincing to wear this shirt rather than the McQueen shirt he picked out but eventually he relented and put the Canada day shirt and we are sure glad he did!

Cooper was much harder to get a good picture of.  He can't be bothered to slow down and he especially can't be bothered to smile!

 

Canmore put on a great Canada Day celebration from the pancake breakfast, to the parade, to the afternoon festivities that took place while the kids were napping, to the fireworks that we could barely see from our condo.  I would for sure go back!

In between the pancakes and the parade we had some time to kill.  Boys will be boys!  There was lots of wrestling to be done.  Cooper is deciding whether he should break it up or join in!

 

The kids weren't the happiest when we stopped for a family picture but if we didn't do it now we wouldn't do it at all.  The kids did pretty well I think considering Grady was melting down before the picture was snapped.

This is the only picture I have of all 4 boys together in their matching shirts.... collecting sticks. Next time we'll plan that out a little better!

Notice that the sticks left the park and almost made it to the parade. The kids just loved being together for 2 consecutive days. The look on their faces says it all.

 

Then it was off to the parade. This was our first one ever and i wasn't really sure how the kids were going to do. Neither one is very good at sitting still so we just crossed our fingers and hoped for the best.

It turned out that the kids quite enjoyed the parade.  Before it started, Grady and i went to the toy store and he of course found some Cars 2 cars he didn't have. It was a pack of 2 I had never seen before so we bought them.  It was just a bonus that there was one for each of them.  I really think that is what kept Cooper amused through the parade that happened to be right at nap time.  He ran that car up and down the chair for most of it.

By the end of the day the rip in Grady's pants was unrepairable and they went in the garbage.

 The only thing that wasn't so great was the sleep situation. We had a 2 bedroom condo which will be great when the kids are older and can sleep in the same room but for the time being, we really need a third bedroom for us all to sleep good. Grady slept fantastic both night. He went to bed great and slept until at least 6am. That in my books is a great night!

Cooper on the other hand slept in a pack and play in our room right beside our bed. We contemplated putting him in the bathroom but somehow that felt wrong. When we went to bed on the first night, he heard us and started to toss and turn. I tried not to move and wake him up further. The result was a really crappy night sleep for me. Cooper got up at 5:45 making noises and we took him into bed at 6:15. He refused to watch TV in our room and wanted to get up immediately.

The next night was worse. He woke up at 3am crying and wanting to get up for the day. After what felt like forever trying to get him back into bed by rocking and bringing him into bed with us we finally did the only thing that was left. We left Cooper in the big room with the king size bed and James slept with Grady and I slept on the couch. So much for a good nights sleep! The only good thing was that Cooper slept until 8:30 the next morning so we got a bit of a sleep in.

Why don't kids know they are supposed to sleep good on holidays?

Other than the sleep situation, we had a great weekend.

Thank you for a great weekend 'P' family and we hope we can do it again inthe future!

Happy Canada Day!