Trying this again.

Imagine my surprise when I came to blogger and found myself still logged in. I'm going to give this the old college try...again. I have a lot to say, and like writing things down. So why neglect the perfect outlet for both of those things?

Where are we now? Well Brady is 11 and Mason is 8. Brady should be getting his braces off soon. Mason's personality is growing at a pretty equal rate to his legs. I don't know how it happened, but that boy GREW recently. I'm still teaching preschool and Jon is still operating heavy equipment.

That's about it. I figure the people on my Facebook are sick of my random thoughts and my Instagram "followers" are sick of the pictures of what I like doing. So I'll just dump it all here where no one will read it!

Here we all are on Canada Day. It's pretty much the first family photo since Mason was 2.  That can't be, can it? There must be others? I mean I took 7 pictures and this was the only decent one, so maybe that's it? Anyways, insert an awww here for my beautiful, crazy, unique family. 

A sweet moment

I know I have been absent for...you know...ever. But I'm pretty sure my non existent readers don't mind. I needed to post this some where so it wouldn't be list in my mind like everything else in my life seems to be. So tonight as a family we were watching a hockey game on TV (ugh my least favorite sport, but there was nothing on). The hublet fell asleep on the couchm B was exhausted after a busy day of tubing yesterday. They both went to bed fairly early so it was just M and I. He came over and snuggled up to me on my chair. The conversations were the same as every day, mainly farting and telling him that he doesn't need to talk about his penis all the time (it's true. This is my life people! Farts and penis erry day) so the conversation wasn't profound or anything like that. But it was the moment. He was so gentle, kind and sweet. We talked about getting a new bed so we could have bigger snuggles, he told me he was sorry for snapping at me all day, legit snapping like to get my attention. It drove me crazy. He even stood up and walked away so he didn't cart on me. I wanted to bottle the feeling we both had at that time. I wanted to freeze the moment so we could stay in that splendor for ever. But the time came for me to tuck him in and say good night. Hopefully some seeds were planted for a positive day tomorrow.

Summer Break Week #2

We've laughed, we've cried, we've fought...welcome to summer!

If you have children, you know the summer struggle is real! I'm not an event planner, so I'm not planning a million things to do for the boys to stay busy this summer. They can go and make their own fun like we did as kids. They have bikes, scooters, a swing set, a sprinkler, and a pool; they can decide how they want to use it all. I've provided them with the basics, they can do the rest.

This morning while we were outside before it got too hot, they asked to clean my car! I kid you not!!! THEY ASKED! So of course, allowing them to find their fun, I let them! I supervised from my comfy chair on the deck drinkjng coffee! I wasn't totally negligent! I'm happy to report that my car is clean and they both stayed dry! Now let's see how they make out with the living room!

They're crazy! And I love it!

Sunday afternoon it POURED rain here. Like white out poured! Right before it started the boys were out riding their bikes and quickly took shelter in the garage when it started. When it slowed down a bit (and I mean a bit) they asked if they could go back out. Every muscle in my body tightened up...I had a million thoughts run through my head 'ugh the gravel will be every where...ugh you'll get so wet....uuughhh the wetness ending up in the house. Every part of me was screaming no. But I'm working on embracing the yes this year. So with hesitation in my voice I said sure. I was worried they would lose traction and fall and seriously hurt themselves. But they survived! They loved it. And I loved watching them.

Sh*t my kid says!

Does someone in your life ever say something that leaves you feeling more confused than when you started? This defines my like with M. He is always saying or song something that he thinks is super funny. The rest of us might not see the humor in it but he does. For example, last night he was in the tub, I told him to lay down so I could wash his hair (yes he's 6 years old and I still wash his hair. If left to him it would never happen). He carefully laid down so he wouldn't get water on his face, but must have been watching himself 'below the belt' and says hey look what's sticking out girls! I died. Right there and then. Done. Dead. This is my little baby. Where he got that from....no CLUE! But he thought it was great!
Earlier this week he was snuggled up for what he calls a chair snuggle as we watched the Blue Jays game. There's a paint commercial that's always on during the games, it opens up with a women laying on her side on the ground using a thigh master and a couple sitting on the couch watching her. The wife looks at the husband and says we need to get this room out of 1991. So we're watching the game, and on comes this commercial. M looks up at me as serious as anything and says 'can you please get me one of those?' I asked a thigh master? Without missing a beat he says 'yes, can you please get me one of those?' What 6 year old wants a thigh master?

Happy Birthday!

As mentioned in my last post, M had a birthday party. It was a really fun afternoon. He only wanted 4 friends, which was perfect. It was 3 hours, which was just a little too long for him. He was ready to be done after 2 hours, which is very typical for him. He's never been able to handle too much stimulation. This was actually his first friends birthday party for this exact reason. I told M that he could put the balloons any where he wanted and just to let me know if he needed any help. He did a fantastic job! We planned what games he wanted to play, after all these are his friends and he knows them better then I do. He decided on statues, musical chairs (which we used pieces of construction paper), duck, duck goose, twister and playing with the overhead projector. I thought the kids would enjoy decorating cupcakes more than a cake, which also took up time ;) He wanted to have hot dogs and ketchup chips, mama added a fruit try and water to that healthy line up. While I was cooking hot dogs (because remember I was single parenting it) I gave them foam stickers and markers to decorate their treat bags. They all did a great job.
M had fun despite being done. If you ever want to have a relaxing kid party, let them plan it!

Sunday Funday

Gosh does this ever have a different meaning when you're an adult! I spent the majority of my Sunday working on a school project, planning for the upcoming week at work, meal planning, making my weekly lists, and paying bills. Oh and did I mention...parenting! Would you believe this was my restful day of the week!
M turned 6 on April 1. My plan was to have his friends party on the 2nd and family over for dinner on the 3rd. We had to change plans as we had my father-in-law's celebration of life on the 3rd. There was no way we would emotionally be able to handle all that in one weekend. The third needed to be about closure for my husband, and my children. So with a quick change of plans family came for dinner on the 2nd and friends came yesterday! My husband was away for work last week so I was single parenting it. I spent my Friday off running around getting everything together for the party and then running kids to after school programs. Waiting until they were asleep to clean, because we all know cleaning with kids is like sweeping times square on new years eve! 
Yesterday M had 4 friends over for a play date birthday party. They were a fun group of kids. M picked out all the games, decorating was left up to him. It was so child directed and stress free! I'll post about this another day.
Anyways I'm rambling! Happy Sunday. Hopefully yours was better than mine ;)