Busy...Busy....Busy

I know things have been quiet on the blog front and I am sorry it just seems like we are in a real busy season right now.  I always want to write....but, I just can't seem to find the time. I will try harder.

 I thought I would share a little of what our busy season of fall looks like so 1) I will be able to look back at where we were when my kids were 5 and 2; and 2) you will be able to appreciate the hectic pace of our lives. I think i am a little crazy but I am pondering taking on two more things to add to our schedule right now....more on that later.

Anyway what does a week look like in the house of us.  Just as a side note that alot of time Matt is not in town so at times it can get even crazier if he is not here to help.

Monday mornings start out always rushed.  The kids and I get up between 7 and 7:30am (Matt gets up at 6:00am sometimes even earlier if he wants to put in some overtime in the morning). We have to be out the door by 8:20am and into the van to drop Alyssa off at the bus stop (We can definately walk to the bus stop but I find it easier to drop her off so that we can run errands right away in the morning.) After Alyssa is on the bus.  Lucas and I ususally head off  to do the grocery shopping at either Save - On- Foods or Costco.  We usually go to Costco every second week and Save On once a week if not more.  We also run errands on Monday mornings too.  Alyssa gets home at 12:18pm so we are always home and I usually try to have lunch on the table.  As once she gets off the bus she is famished and its easiest to just send her right to the table to eat then hear her complain and whine that she is so hungry.  Mondays we are home in the afternoon and evening so I usually try to cook a big meal and catch up on laundry and do some housecleaning. 

Every second Monday, Lucas has speech therapy so then the grocery shopping gets moved to Tuesday morning.

Tuesday mornings after Alyssa is on the bus, Lucas and I usually head out to do something for  him.  Whether its a playdate at Cafe O'Play, going to the John Janzen Nature Centre with friends, playing at the Mall gym at Millwoods Towne Centre etc.  After nap on Tuesdays (we are in the process of Lucas starting to not want to nap anymore so every few days he decides not to nap and then its EARLY to bed), Alyssa has gymnastics from 4:30-6:00pm.  Keeping Lucas entertained at gymnastics is a little hard but he is actually doing better than I expected thanks to snacks, books, cars and the tablet.  We usually pick up something for dinner on Tuesday nights as both kids are starving by the time gymnastics is over. 

I should note that Alyssa's bedtime is at 7:30pm and Lucas is at 6:45pm if he doesn't nap and 8:00pm if he does nap.  So, after gymanstics its straight home to get ready for bed. 

Wednesday mornings Lucas and I attend Women In Touch at our church.  Lucas plays with the grammies while I co-lead a book study with about 10-15 women in it.  I love Wednesday mornings.  I get some me time and the support I feel there is amazing.  We come home on Wednesdays and in the afternoon I usually have to do some work/prep as I am also on the Women In Touch Executive.  Alyssa always has quiet time when its naptime so i can get some stuff done during that time.  I also make a big dinner on Wednesday nights as we are all home.

Thursday mornings I usually try to schedule any doctor appointments for myself or for Lucas.  He gets his haircut every five weeks at Beaners.  Tomorrow I am meeting with an awesome ministry, Pink Wings.  This is one of the things that I have been pondering about as I really feel led to get involved with their ministry.  At 3:00pm each Thursday my babysitter gets dropped off from school and I go to my Ladies Ministry Meeting (which is different from WIT executive).  It starts at 4pm but I find i can usually run one or two errands before the meeting begins.  I am usually home by 6:30pm to drive the sitter home.  If Matt is home, he drives Emily home.  The kids and Matt have leftovers for supper on Thursdays. 

Friday mornings are usually spent meeting up with friends, doing any other errands or appointments or sometimes just staying home to try and catch up on laundry and housecleaning etc.  Matt curls on Friday nights so he usually stays late at work and just goes to curling from there.

Saturday mornings Alyssa has swimming lessons and then we try to spend time as a family on Saturday afternoons and evenings.   Every couple of weeks we have small group on Saturday evenings.  Our whole family really enjoys small group and looks forward to when the next one is. 

This Saturday is a big crazy as I am helping run a dinner theatre fundraiser at our church to support the one day conference that we are doing in Janurary for the ladies of Evangel and Father's House.  So I am getting a sitter, as Matt is out of town, from 1pm until 10pm. 

On Sunday mornings we have church and then we try to rest up for the rest of the week.  When we have a girls night out they are usually planned on a Sunday evening. 

Whew....so that is my week.  It is a little crazy but it is working well for us right now.  Its the right amount of busy and the right amount of down time. 

The other thing that I am pondering and praying about right now is that Alyssa got asked to join Super Girls in gymnastics.  Right now she goes 1 1/2 hours a week but if she joined this special, competitive team she would be there twice a week for 2 hours.  I'm just not sure if going the competitive route is the right thing for her and for our family.  It just seems crazy that I have to make this decision so early in her young life.  I'll let you know what we decide.  Matt kind of wants her to go into it but I am just not sure. 

I am happy to tell you though that even with this busy schedule I am almost all done my christmas shopping.  I have one more thing to pick up and then I just have stocking stuffers left.  Yeah.  I am trying to be prepared as I know once December hits we are going to be busy with Christmas parties and functions. 

Sorry

I am so sorry, blog, that I have neglected you.  I have wanted many times this week to write but, I just haven't found the time or anything that I really need to say.

This weekend seemed to be very very busy.  Friday night was WIT's fundraiser at the waterpark.  We took Alyssa but, left Lucas at home with a babysitter as we knew he just couldn't handle the late night.  Alyssa had a blast.  Having mommy and daddy all to herself at the waterpark meant the world to her.  Matt and I also had a great time getting to spend time together with Alyssa and the waterpark is always fun.  It was a late night though, as we didn't get home until around 11pm.  Alyssa held up though with no meltdowns that night or the next day which was a bonus.

Saturday morning Alyssa had her first swimming lesson in Whale.  She did so well.  It was just her and another little girl so they got lots of attention and once again Alyssa surprised me.  She had another boy teacher and didn't even flinch when she found out.  Three months ago, that would have been a major problem.  But, now she did so well.  The other thing that surprised me was that she swam the ENTIRE length of the pool by herself.  Yeah....I am one proud momma of my little girl.

On Saturday evening we had our first meeting of the year for small group.  Our whole family loves small group.  This time we had a potluck Ukranian meal and it was delicious.  The fellowship, the food, the friendships we are making are all so great. 

Then on Sunday, Alyssa and I went to Cavalia, a cirque show with horses.  It was amazing and my little girl enjoyed it so much. 

Now, it is Monday evening.  Lucas is in bed early tonight as he has decided some days he doesn't want to nap anymore so on those days it is early to bed.  Alyssa is getting some cuddle time with her daddy and I am finishing up the six loads of laundry I did today.  I am finally caught back up on laundry after my surgery a few weeks ago.  And it feels good to not see the heaping pile of clothes in the basement. 

Anyway, I will try and be better at writing this week.  I just need to think up more topics.  Any suggestions? 

The Circus

I was online a few weeks ago looking for tickets to Cavalia.  I found some tickets but it was really expensive to go so I decided not to buy tickets (Matt ended up surprising me and Alyssa with tickets though).  But, as I was looking through the ticket master website I stumbled on tickets to the circus and they were just the price I was willing to spend. 

I only remember once going to the circus when I was a kid.  I remember all of the clowns fitting into a small, small car.  I remember sitting on an elephant. 

I was excited to take Alyssa to the circus.  She had no idea what to expect.  I think she was more in awe of Rexall Place and just how big it was and how many seat there were.  It is always so fun to see something new through the eyes of a child.  She was so excited. 

 

I really enjoyed seeing the trainer and the horse and how talented they both were. 

 

 

People doing acrobatics always amaze me.  This was a dad and his kids from South America. 

 

 

 

At the intermission we were able to go down to centre ring to run around and you could buy tickets for some bouncy castles or have a pony ride.  Alyssa chose to go on a bouncy castle. 

 

 

A circus isn't complete without the clowns....

 

 

The intermission seemed to be really long so we also got Alyssa's face painted like a horse. 

 

 

There was a kid juggling with fire that also really impressed me. 

 

 

Alyssa's favorite act (I wasn't able to get a picture of it) was when the lady was shot out of the cannon. 

 

I love spending time with Alyssa and getting to see the circus through her eyes was really memorable.  Hopefully we can take Lucas next year so I can see it again through his eyes. 

 





 





 



 





The Pressures of Having a Two Year Old

When Alyssa turned two a few years ago, I was surprised to feel pressure to get things done. Not really pressure from others, but, pressure from myself. Now that she was two, she was no longer a baby so I felt like we had to get going on potty training, losing the soother, and getting her in a big girl bed; all at once.

I remember seriously having to talk to myself to slow down. That just because she wasn't a baby that she was still little and that these things would happen in time. And they all did happen at just the right time that was perfect for Alyssa and for our family.

For example, potty training.....I tried potty training Alyssa four times between the ages of two and three. Everytime I tried she would start crying as soon as she wet herself as she really didn't know what was going on. One day when she was 35months old so just a month before her third birthday, we tried again. She got it and was trained in one day with only a handful of accidents. She was ready.

Then with the big girl bed......we set up a brand new big girl room with a toddler princess bed in the next room over as we wanted to keep the nursery a nursery. On the first night when she was about two and three months we tried moving her to her big girl bed. She just cried over and over that she wanted her crib so we moved her back into her crib. We tried periodically over the next few months and she always wanted back into her crib. One day when she was to two years old and eight months, I put her down for a nap. When she woke up she was talking in her crib when I heard the awful sound of "thunk" and then crying. I ran upstairs to find Alyssa on the floor crying, not in her crib where she should have been. She had learned how to climb out of the crib. Thankfully, she was fine, just scared, not hurt. We then, went downstairs and got daddy's tools and I took off the side of the crib. Her crib was now broken as it was unsafe for her to be in it. That night we explained that her crib was broken and that she had to sleep in her big girl bed. She went right into her new bed with no issues and no crying. She was ready.

The soother was a bit different. We really had to bear down and be firm with her. Just as a note, she only had her soother at nap and bedtime so no one even really knew she still had one. Finally when Alyssa was three and a half we got up the nerve to take the soother away. We were just so scared that our awesome sleeper would no longer be such a great sleeper. Anyway she did really well with it, just waking up early for a few days. On those early mornings we pretended to be pirates and went and hid het treasure, het soother, in the sandbox. After three night of no soother she got to pick out a princess dress at Toys R'Us. She again was ready and I am glad that each time we waited and gave her space to grow up when she felt ready.

I am a planner at heart, so it really felt unnatural to me to not know when these things were going to happen. But, when we let Alyssa take the lead everything went much smoother and more peaceful than we could have ever imagined. While except for the soother which I am sure she would still have now if we hadn't pushed her a little.

Anyway, fast forward to June.....Lucas turns two and once again I feel the pressure. The pressure within to get him off the bottle (which he only has at naptime and bedtime before he goes in his crib), to get him in a big boy bed and to get him potty trained.

Well I am happy to report that after a few attempts in the last few months to get him off the bottle, we have finally succeeded. When he was ready, it was an easy transition. I am surprised that I am actually feeling sadness as that was the last bottle that will ever be in our house. My baby is growing up. If I knew that his last bottle was really going to be his last bottle I would have savored cudling him a little longer. Overall though, I am thrilled that we finally got him off the bottle and I am super happy that I will never have to wash another bottle again.

The Cars toddler bef is downstairs waiting for the perfect moment to be brought upstairs and potty training is not even in our eyesight right now. We will wait until he is closer to three to try that. When he shows me signs that he is ready.

Family Pictures

Last week we met with a friend/photographer at the Muttart Conservatory, here in Edmonton, to get our family pictures taken. 

I wasn't sure how Lucas would do, but, he surprised us all and did AWESOME.  Both kids had so much fun having their pictures taken that they were both sad when it was all over. 

Anyway here are a few of my favorites.....

 

 

A Big Smurfberry Mistake

Alyssa loves playing games on our tablet so when we found the Smurf Village game we knew we had to download it for her. For the last few months she has been playing the Smurf game several times a day. Both Matt and I have joined in playing with her as well.

It is a game where you are trying to grow a village. So you are planting and harvesting vegtables, building huts and doing quests.

You can purchase smurfberries but, we have made it very clear to Alyssa that she is not too buy any smurfberries. She has done really well and has never even asked us to buy smurfberries which would help her buy more smurf things and move up in the levels faster.

But, last Saturday morning, Alyssa was up before us and was downstairs playing her smurf game. She ran upstairs asking me for help, that she had made a mistake. Unfortunately, in my sleep induced state I ignored her and told her I would be downstairs in a few minutes.

When I got downstairs, she quickly informed me that she had made a mistake and she didn't know how to fix it. Upon opening the game I quickly realized that she had bought a wagon full of smurfberries, which cost $99.99 !!!!!!! And she had already spent them all by the time I got downstairs!!!

We ran upstairs and got Matt up to help us figure out how to get $100.00 refunded on our credit card. After doing some research we emailed the developer and explained the situation.

As it was the weekend we didn't hear anything back until Monday. Alyssa had had the tablet taken away all weekend and she was praying that they would return our money so she could have the tablet back. She had really learned her lesson but, i really felt bad asi really think it was an accident and I had ignored her when she had asked for help.

Thankfully, on Monday, the developer emailed us back and refunded us the money this one time with instructions on how to secure our creditcard with a pin number so this didn't happen again. We went one step further and deleted our credit card number off of google play.

Lesson learned for Alyssa and for Matt and I.

This morning Alyssa dressed Lucas up as a princess. I will never, ever forget the look on Matt's face when he came downstairs and saw his only son dressed in a pink, frilly dress. It was hilarious and even more hilarious when Lucas wouldn't let Matt change him out of the dress. So funny.

Scavenger Hunt

I am always trying to come up with fun ideas to do with the kids.  So on Sunday morning, we decided to skip church and go on a scavenger hunt at West Edmonton Mall. 

With the list and my camera in hand, we were ready to go. 

I made up the scavenger hunt as a fun way for Alyssa to see West Edmonton Mall but also so I could get some shopping done while she was having fun. 

First thing on our list....nail polish

We both got our nails done to start the morning off. 

Next thing on our list....the skating rink....

 

A cell phone (but not mommy's)....

 



Ladies Boots....

 

Fountain #1....

 



A mask (I meant a halloween mask but when we went to Jungle Jim's for lunch she definately found a mask).

 

French fries....

 

 

Stairs....

 

 

A Sea Lion....

 

 

We both loved the sea lion show and Alyssa really liked the sea caverns and touching the stingrays.

 

Back to the scavenger hunt.....waterslides...

 

 

The next thing on our list was a car (I meant a real car on show in the mall), however after walking up and down the mall we couldn't find one.  But then Alyssa realized she had been driving in a "car" all along.  LOL.

 

 

Mickey Mouse....

 

 

A woman's hat....

 















Fountain #2....(a place where she could throw a penny and make a wish)

 

We had one more item on our list....an umbrella....but, we couldn't find one anywhere.  So we left a little sad that we couldn't complete our scavenger hunt.  Until Alyssa was looking back through the pictures on the camera, on the way home, when she discovered that we had in fact found an umbrella....

 



So we completed our scavenger hunt and had a blast doing it.  It felt like we were tourists in our own city and I'm sure that it will be a family tradition that we will start.  I can't wait to take Lucas on one, however he is still a little too little and wouldn't quite get it.