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 ;)

The end of an innocence

If I would have known the significance of this picture, I would have taken the time to make sure it was better lit, not blurry, and included both boys.

This picture was taken at 7:35pm Friday March 4, 2016. It was a typical Friday night. We were watching a replay of the Blue Jays game from earlier in the day (one of our favourite things to do as a family) and the boys wanted to make snow ice cream. This was probably our last chance to make this treat as the weather was expected to warm up in the coming days. So I quickly snapped this picture of M stirring up the icy snow. I had no idea what we were in for.

At 7:40pm we got a phone call from my husband's uncle, a phone call that would change our lives forever. A phone call that instantly made us feel like 'grown ups'. My father-in-law passed away very suddenly and unexpectedly. It was like being punched in the stomach and having the rug pulled out from under you all at the same time.

This past month has probably been the longest month of my life. Between the roller-coaster of personal emotions, being the support that my husband needs and helping my kids understand and process these emotions they're feeling. There are days that are generally difficult  (mainly Fridays) and then there are days that are going good and then something small brings you right down. Grief is a very raw and unpredictable emotion.

Take the time to tell your loved ones how you feel. Hug them, take the extra time to not just talk to, but genuinely listen to what they have to say. You never know when it might be your last chance.

Getting hammered on a Sunday Afternoon

Yesterday the boys and I went into the dollar store, they were both drawn to the tool section. They thought it was cool that there were tools their size and both asked for a hammer. I'm trying to create a yes environment, and they were only $3 each! M was super excited about his. He held it in the car the whole way home and even slept with it under his pillow last night (which is something my late grandmother did, but that's a story for another day). This afternoon I set up an invitation for them to use their hammers. I found a small 2x4 piece of wood that we had around the house and some old roofing nails. I opened up B's hammer and started hammering in the nails. Within seconds M was right there with me. B, who is always more reserved with things sat back and watched for a few minutes before asking for his hammer. You guys, they got along and worked together hammering for 30 minutes! I was able to quickly snap this picture of M hammering his little heart out. Proof that sometimes it's the simple things in life that bring the mose enjoyment to children.

Your love is the sweetest thing

Now, seeing as its the day after valentine's day, you're probably thinking that this is about my husband. While his love is pretty sweet, it's not the love a child has for their parent and vice versa. When you fall in love with another person, it's a process. Your love grows, you feel it as it happens. But the love a child has for their parents is truly amazing. They are born loving you. In every little action they do they love you. If you stop and thi k about it, it's pretty powerful. As is the love a parent has for their children. It's instant, it's powerful, it really could move mountains. I remember finding out I was pregnant a d immediately loving these little people I had never met but I already knew.

It was something simple that reminded me of this this morning. B asked if I could blow up a balloon for him (he and M were playing balloon basketball in the basement). He offered to make me a coffee while I helped him out,we have a Keurig so it's pretty simple/safe task for little hands, so I of course took him up on the offer. When he came back he had wrote me a note on his BoogieBoard. Five simple words that reminded me of the power and sweetness the love between parent and child is.

Obsessed

First off....I some how dodged the stomach flu. I don't know how, but I did!

Now on to what's important:

Who watched Grease Live? Wasn't it amazing? I lm really not a huge Julianne Hough fan, but she nailed it as Sandy! Vanessa Hudgens as Rizo, genius! And the poor girl. Losing her dad and still going through with such a high pressure preformance. You don't get much more professional then that. Who ever was in charge of casting needs an award of some sort! I really want to see more of these musicals on TV. Living where I live it's a lot of work to get my boys some where for live theater. Not only that but the cost of travel on top of everything else, it can really add up. I love that they can see live theater with front row type seats right in the comfort of their own home. I love it.

We watched The Wiz Live in December and B loved it. We watched it multiple times. I thought for sure that nothing could top that. But i really think Grease did. 

Is this week done?

Have you ever started out the week where you had everything organized and ready for things to go smoothly? That was how my week started. B still can't play hockey due to his concussion, and M was done hockey at 3 on Saturday. After hockey I meal planned and went and got groceries and did the weekly lunch prep. I had everything planned that I needed for work this week. I had nothing to do Sunday. It would finally be the day of rest that it was intended to be.

Sunday morning the boys went out to play while the hublet was doing some 'man stuff' outside. I had peace to drink my coffee and catch up on Coronation Street. Bliss. Sunday afternoon the boys were playing and getting along (playing AND getting along. Red flag!) I thought I would lay down for a little nap. Ahhhhh-mazzzzzzing! I loved this Sunday! 

Then it happened.

B came running into my room telling me M was puking. I bolted out of bed and ran into the living room to find him on the couch with his face in my biggest Tupperware bowl (thank god for the sanitize cycle on the dishwasher!)  Luckily hublet was right with him. He spent the rest of the afternoon on and off facing the bowl.

Monday he stayed home from school. Luckily/unluckily my nephew came out with the same bug so he was able to go to my sisters while I went to work for the morning.

Tuesday everyone was healthy and at work and school. After I was done work I did some school work and caught up on some stuff around the house. I got the boys from the bus they told me about their days on the walk home. It was a beautiful day so I suggested they play outside. Not even 10 minutes later I hear crying. I go out M is losing it and B is crying telling me that M is bleeding. I go out into the snow, barefoot to get him. I get him in the house and look...Ya he totally needs stitches! Luckily my neighbor across the road works at the doctors office in my town and told us to go over there, and had called to tell them what happened and that we were on our way over.

Three stitches later we were on our way home. I'm not going to lie, it was a tramatic experience all around. Even the nurse who helped me hold him down cried after we left. But all things considered he was back to himself after the shock wore off.

Wednesday hublet had a convention for work. So we were all getting ready at the same time. Which is very rare and kind of throws everyone off. When B woke up he said his stomach hurt. Damn! I called my sister and he was able to go there. Literally 5 minutes before we were to be walking out the door, he gave me the look and told me he was going to do it. Let her rip little man, there's no sense holding that stuff in! That day was pretty rough for him. And just when I thought he was over, it started again at bedtime! And to add insult to injury....hublet was now sick!

So today, Thursday, B and hublet stayed home. B apparently was okay and he thinks he should have went to school. But better safe then sorry when it comes to issues of the tummy.

I'm almost afraid to see what tomorrow will bring. It's my day off so that pretty much guarantees that I will indeed be sick. Can't wait!

Hoarder of messages

After reading the title you have to admit, there are worse things to hoard. There's just something about pushing that delete button that makes my chest tighten and makes me question my judgement. What if I end up needing something from that message? What if it ends up being more important then I originally thought? I have 1 message that I will not delete, ever - period end of. It's one from my grandma. She's almost 92 and still with us, and truth be told, she'll probably outlive us all! But I'm not sure if I'll ever get another message from my grandma which means I won't have a recording of her voice.

But for real, do I need 21 messages? Probably not. Am I going to delete them? No! Maybe I'll see how far I can stretch my phones abilities.shee how many messages it will allow us to store.

Concussed!

Pardon me if this is brief, I'm shining my mother of the year trophy as I type this!

So 3 nights a week B, the oldest, goes to an after school program. It's sport and nutrition based. He's very athletic, so it's a perfect fir for him. Wednesday night I dropped him off, came home and continued my binge of how to make a murderer. About 20 minutes later my cell phone rings. It's in the kitchen, so I rush to get there all the time trying to think of who's calling me on my cell and not at home? My heart sunk as soon as I saw that it was the program coordinator. This is his third year attending, I've never received a phone call. I'm sure the panic showed in my voice when I answered. She immediately assured me that everything was okay, but.... (ya there's always a but that tells you everything's not fine) B had been hit in the head with a hockey stick fairly hard. He had a good sized goose egg but he wanted to stay. She told me that he was keeping ice on it for 20 minutes and then she would reassess the situation and get back to me. 20 minutes later she texted me that the swelling had gone down enough and he seemed fine that he would be okay to stay. Fine and well.

So Thursday morning I make a note in his school planner explaining the situation and jotted down my work number in case anything should come up. The phone didn't ring all morning, everything must be okay. So I went on my lunch visited with some coworkers about a few ikea purchases I had made and my plan for them when the phone rang. It was his teacher. After recess he started to feel unwell. I, being an awesome mom kind of played it off like he was wanting to come home. And in all honesty, the kid complains of an upset belly probably 5 times a week...or more! He sleeps with a bowl because he's not convinced that he isn't going to throw up. I explained all that to her. She agreed that he was fine to stay at school,  and said they would keep a closer eye on him. We said our goodbyes and I go back to my lunch.

Not even 10 minutes later she was calling back. When she got back down to the classroom she went to talk to him and he was now feeling dizzy. She thought he better get checked out just to be sure he was okay. I told her I would pack up at work and head out to get him. So I get to the school talk with the principal about the situation, she's with me not too concerned, but better to get it checked out then to let it go.

Let me start by saying that I don't have a Dr or a hospital in my town. Ya, it's that small! So I drove to my Dr's office thinking they could give him a quick once over and we would be on our way home for a nap. HA! The Dr's office was closed! So off to the closest emergency room 40 minutes away!

We waited in the waiting room for 2+ hours, then waited almost another 2 hours to see a Dr. When the Dr finally made his way in he was very friendly joked around with B, and really treated him like he was an adult. Which is huge for an 8 year old boy. The Dr was able to confirm that we were indeed looking at a concussion. Concussion treatment has come a long way since I was a kid in the 90s!

First off today we was on complete cognitive rest or brain rest. That means no tv, no devices (which we don't allow for kids in this house anyways) no reading, no music, nothing to stimulate brain activity. It's been a long day. He's no bored. I agreed that he could play some dominos for about 20 minutes this morning and again this afternoon. Just to keep him busy in some way. Tomorrow were allowed to slowly return to normal activities. This means he can play for 20 minutes and then rest his brain for 60. Or watch 20 minutes of tv, then rest for 60. If he starts to show symptoms, we go back to fully brain rest.

Also, because he's athletic and plays in organized sports, he has to go to a return to sport program in London (about 50 minutes away) at a sport medicine clinic.

Monday I will take him to school and have a meeting with the principal so we can make an individualized return to learn plan for him based on his current state of recovery.

It will be interesting to see what the coming weeks bring for B as well as the rest of us.

How are you spending your free time?

While I should be doing school work, and some odds and ends for work, or if you ask my family....folding laundry ;) I'm spending all my free time watching 'Making a Murderer' on Netflix. Procrastinating...maybe....worth it...you bet! I'm so torn as to if Steven is actually guilty. At the end of the day, I believe he was. But I do also believe there was a great mishandling of evidence. I don't think his nephew was involved. I think he was an unintelligent, scared kid who had no idea the multitude that he was admitting to. As he said, will I be out of here by 1:29? I have a project due in the 6th hour. He wasn't thinking about what he was admitting, he was telling them what they wanted to hear so he could get out of there and back to school in time to hand in his project.

I'm really interested to see where they take this series. And I say a series as they say season 1, which of course leads us to believe there will be a season 2. How often does this kind of stuff really happen? I think more often then not.

Why is so hard?

The struggle is real my friends. You think you have a decent picture of both your kids together and as soon as you push the shutter button, someone does something.

This has been a struggle for me since our first Christmas with 2 kids. Really...how hard could it be? Oh how naive I was then. I booked the boys into a local photo studio, bought them matchy matchy outfits, scheduled around the baby's feeding and napping schedule, fresh hair cut for the oldest, what could possibly go wrong? Gaaahhhh we were an hour and we got 1 single picture. I was sweating and possibly on the verge of tears. It was like an epic pinterest fail.

This tradition has carried with us always. Even candid pictures. This weekend we took the boys to a hockey game. I wanted 1 picture to document this. After multiple attempts, these are the best 2. My youngest is mad 8n both pictures. Why you might ask? Who knows. These moods strike him as he sees fit. And our oldest is trying to sneak away, and then pretending to be hurt.

Is this like the unspoken sibling law? Thou must not allow mom one nice picture?