Aug 27,2014 Ice Cream Party and Lollipop Tree

Our Ice cream party happened today, it was super fun and crazy and our ice cream experiment worked!!! Here's the recipe for future reference

You 3 yahoos with your bags to shake to make ice cream.

Kate McAteer and her two beauties (Evie and Eloise) little king Arthur was busy sleeping away and growing. Then Mason, Abbie and Eloise show casing their cones.  

Kendall and her little cutie in next photo in front of Abbie...Hugh Edward Ericsson but everyone calls him Ned. The final delicious product. New faces to our house, Erin and her daughter Catelyn, they are so nice and we met them thru Laurie. 

James, Easton and Joseph Zimmerman and Amy her littlest man was resting in his car seat and their super cute Bianca I missed a picture of. Then of course my handsome boy Mason. 

DANIELA TURNS 3...in Alberta

This beauty turned 3 while camping in Alberta. She has been amazingly good this trip.

 Daniela I want you to know how very much I LOVE YOU!! 

~ I love that little smile that you have when you are teasing us, it's between a smirk and a smile and that you squint your eyes when you smile mischievously. 

~ I love how sensitive you can be, your the first one to run to either Mason or Abbie if they are crying and offer a toy, or some treat to help then feel better (although in the interest of full disclosure, it is you my dear that sometimes is the culprit)

~I love how busy you are, you have a real zest for life that will serve you well your whole life

~ I love how determined you are (you learned how to peddle your bike so quickly) It's quite remarkable to watch you learn and achieve things right in front of our eyes

~I love that golden blond hair that shines and sparkles in the sun while the rest of you is climbing, running, swimming, bike riding. How it frames your adorable little face

~I love your love of babies, how you want to hold them and be near them. This week was fun as little Brinley and Olivia are our families newest additions

~Their are words that you say that crack me up, right now one of your favorites is "that's dis thgusting" and other words that involve hard letter combinations. I'm not sure where you picked it up but it makes me smile

So every year on your birthday I always think of quotes for you kids. Here's a recap of yours:

For your first birthday it was

  For your 2nd year it was:

For your 3rd year I thought this was perfect. It's kind of your motto already, from zipping your sweater, to putting on shoes to riding a bike. May this be a reminder for all your years. Love you my little goldilocks

So for the details. Danielle really wanted a "planes" party. 

Her birthday shirt. 

July 30th, 2014

Today Daniela had her 3 year old checkup. She was great and things are looking good. She is the 90th percentile for height and 93 for weight. Also her chest mark has gone done significantly. We did however have to do a urine test for her, which lent itself to curious kids.  Especially when I had her hop on the toilet and put the cup underneath her. Honestly not going to be surprised when the kids are in the shower playing that they decide to pee in the bowls or cups that they play with in the shower (Gross).

So thankful for our Dr. Rodrigue she is amazing with the kids. As a side note before she checks our kids under carriages (bottoms) she always says to them " I'm going to ask your mom if it's okay for me to check that everything is healthy". Then she looks at me and asks me. She also explains to the kids, and asks them. It really struck me how that little question is SOOO important.  It makes me sad to think that we even have to worry about things like this but the reality is that I need to talk to my children and inform them so that they know that no one is to EVER touch them inappropriately. Things I never want to think about but have to teach our littles to protect them.  She also told me this visit that you kids are the age where discussions have to take place about these kinds of things.  Sometimes I just want to take our little family and head off to a desert island.

After that I decided to take them to the Science and Tech museum again because they offer a free train (mini) on Wed and Sun. We rode it twice and the kids loved the whistle and the clickety clack of the railroad track.

 Then home for lunch and nap time. 

Then Mason had soccer tonight it was pouring on and off all day but cleared up and was nice for the hour he played and then as Dani, Mason and I were heading off the field it started to pour. Perfect timing (Alin stayed home to bond with Abbie)

July 29th, 2014

This morning I started training for a "try" athelon that Kate wanted to enter. I'm nervous I haven't done anything active since being a mom (chasing after kids doesn't count) and it's time to get back to doing these things because before kids I loved it!!! 

Going swimming, training starts today. 

Wow was I ever out of shape, there's a lot more training I have to do and so much for muscle memory... But it felt so good, I always loved swimming and my years as a lifeguard were probably some of my favorite memories. I love the peaceful sound of water as your head dips under and up, under and up. How I've missed it. That being said I looked and sounded like a flailing fish. Well here's to getting back into the "swim" of things. And yes that cracked me up. 

Then Amanda Dugan and her family were going to go to Parc Omega so we went with them. I was a little concerned because of the drive and flying solo but it was AWESOME and RELAXING and SUPER FUN. 

My 3 little cutie pies, they LOVE Parc  Omega. Well 2 out of 3 of them, Abbie loves it if she sits on my lap, eats carrots that were ment for the animals and the windows rolled up. I think what she loves most is the freedom of not being in a car seat while we drive around the park.

Mason and Daniela were so cute and I honestly had such a relaxing fun time. I packed a lunch and when we reached the tractor ride and old farm we ate, the kids also enjoyed bubblegum ice cream which had them covered in blue. Mason and Daniela were so funny to listen to in between Masons excited yells announcing every single animal with such exuberance "MOM LOOK! A DEER, A PIG, A HUGE BUFFALO MOM I NEVER SEEN A HUGE ONE BEFORE, MOM THERE IS A TON OF ANIMALS, COME HERE MOMMA DEER" "MOM IT KISSED ME, LICKED ME. I NEVER SEEN THIS MANY BEFORE. he was hilarious to listen to and everything was said at the top of his voice, with such excitement and for hours on end. That is one of the things I love about being a mom, is listening to our kids excitement. Daniela was equally excited but the lines that cracked me up were "COME HERE SWEETIE PIE"

It was around 6 when we got home, but luckily I had put dinner in the crockpot as Alin works till 9 tonight and it was ready for us after our busy day. So bedtime was less than fun since they all had siestas in the truck, but I loved spending the day with them at the parc.  Good day, great company. 

Sweet dreams, love mom

July 31, 2014

This morning we went to Monkey around  with Amanda Azzi and her adorable 3 kids and her cousin and her beautiful twins. The kids had a ball and were sweating like crazy. 

Then home and I went swimming while the kids napped. This time I was so self conscious when I got into the water and it wasn't a great workout. Came home, went outside with the kids, pulled a lot of weeds, felt the warm sun on my neck and enjoyed some of these wonderful raspberries from our garden. 

Then tonight the McAteers came over for dinner (pulled chicken, buns, watermelon, cherries, vegetables and then Kate and Dan brought brownies over. After dinner Kate and I went swimming. Home, bed and a busy night ahead as Alins parents are coming tomorrow. 

August 5, 2014

This morning I had a mammogram booked at 7:45 but before then I had to take the garbage out. Daniela always likes to help me but this morning she was having a meltdown and so I went took garbage out and told her when she calmed down she could come with me. She didn't and in the midst of her meltdown she must have pulled something in her neck. The plan was that I would go to my mammogram and then get to go lane swimming to practice for the triathlon. As I left for the hospital, Daniela was screaming about her neck and Abbie was screaming for the soul purpose that I was going to be out of her sight. Away I headed as this has been rescheduled 3 times already. As I'm waiting at the hospital I had just finished asking "are they usually on time" when a nurse came to inform me that they couldn't find the x-ray tech and didn't know where they were.  I waited another 20 min and when they came back saying they still didn't know, I decided to check at home as soon as the phone was answered I was met with kids screaming. I told them I couldn't wait and headed home. I was a little frustrated and worried about Daniela. Once home she was lying in bed and seemed better, at times like this it's hard not to get frustrated.  Being a mom means putting everyone's needs before your own but I want you girls to know and Mason for you to be aware for your wife that SOMETIMES mom's need time to do things so they can be healthy, physically and mentally.  Going for a mammogram does not count as time to yourself, it counts as taking care of yourself.  So here's to rebooking a mammogram and fitting exercise in another day...but gratitude as well for 3 healthy kiddos and husband (just one of those)

Aug 7,2014

Today something amazing happened. 2 of the 3 yahoos were fighting (not the amazing part) and not getting along. So I sent them to their bedroom to figure it out. After a few minutes they hadn't returned to the living room so I went to check on them. I couldn't believe my eyes, they were busy working away cleaning their room. Daniela was returning all the animals to the toy chest, putting clothes back in the drawer ( I did however have to refrain from pulling the clothes back out and folding them) while Mason was busy putting the books back in the book shelf. The look on my face must have given my emotion away because they both looked at me and said they were cleaning their room to make "my heart happy". They succeeded I pulled them close gave them kisses on the head, hugged them and told them that this indeed made my heart happy and I was so proud of them. There little faces beamed...then it cracked me up when Dani had to finish it off by straightening the rug like she's seen me do a million times before.

We then headed to Weston park where they had a special community party going on. The kids played in the sand, playground, made a craft, received some bubbles and were treated to timbits.

Then for a little subway lunch and home for a nap. 

I also got to have a filling done by my amazing husband. I say got to because it was against the law for about 5 years that he wasn't allowed to treat me (spouses) it was appealed just in time as I had one filling that needed to be done. He really is a great dentist, and I should know I worked with enough of them in my career. Honestly he gave me the needle and I hardly felt it and the palatial which is nobody's favorite was no problem. Plus he is the best looking dentist ever. You kids are super lucky, your dad is such an amazing man and everyday I'm thankful for many things he does for us. Plus who else's dad buys a pinball machine for the basement.