brotherhood

I developed about 700 photos this week of our life from October on. I have done zero scrapbooking since becoming a mother. But I do have a cupboard full of scrapbooking supplies. In the meantime I purchased some albums for the kids to have access to the photos. To look back at thier lives. To remember to fun.
Going through the photos, I saw a brotherhood develop. It is so much fun to watch the boys grow together. They are brother's. I hope forever but that is a different kind of post.
I often catching myself during my days just standing by and watching them. It does my heart good. CO has become a great big brother. He still has his controlling and rough moments. But on the most part he looks out for J and very much want to include J in everything he is doing. They still have thier moments of sibling rivalry and where they are spitting mad at eachother, but I think that is part of being family as the anger doesn't last, and they are happy together again. Part of the problem they face is the fact that J is only 2 and can't and shouldn't do everything that CO does. Another part of the problem is that CO is impulsive and doesn't necessarily know his own strength.
I love to hear them laugh, play and sing together. I love walking into a room and seeing them snuggling together reading a book. I love that CO will be a clown to make J laugh or vise versa. I love to watch them run around using their imaginations together.
This past week while cutting the grass (I drive the ride on tractor and the boys ride in the trailer behind), the boys were travelling with the sticks in the back (while cutting, I'll put fallen branches and sticks in the wagon, and then at the end we'll drive to the campfire pit and unload) and I could hear the boys using the sticks to hunt (like we were on a safari or something).

I love that it takes little to entertain them. That they can play together for hours. That they love to just be outside and free without having to be my shadow. I have loved watching thier brotherhood develop this past year.

park fun

CO's Nana and Papa have a park just a short walk from thier house. We went daily. Sometimes more. Here is a couple of shots from the park.

J walked a side step around and around this sandbox

CO was very excited that he could reach and do this part of the park this visit.

pottery painting

We just returned from our Easter Vacation. One of the days we were away, CO's Nana took us to paint pottery. The boys did AMAZING! They were quite focused and loved it. We have yet to see our final product but will get to see it next time we visit with CO's grandparents.

there is a lid for every pot

I was watching a movie at work this past month and someone said the line 'there is a lid for every pot' in reference to people and thier mates.
I like the concept. But I am not sure I agree with it.

**********************************
Easter is just around the corner. I have done maybe 2% of all the things I wanted to do leading up to Easter with the boys. I hope to fit in a couple of things tomorrow afternoon.

Tomorrow morning we are due at the dentist bright and early. CO is getting a 'robot' put in. (story behind the robot: a couple of weeks ago, CO was WAILING because he had a piece of carrot stuck between his molars, I flossed it out and the wailing con't. After 3 days of putting a teething gel on it, we made it to the dentist only to discover that the tooth was broken and a chunk missing. SO, we ended up having to get it pulled as it wasn't worth saving. And tomorrow they are putting a spacer in to keep the space open for when his new molar is due to grow in sometime around age 11...sigh). The robot's name is 'spacer' and it's job is to not let his teeth be lonely and try to grow closer together because if they do, there will be no room for his new tooth. When you are four, calling it a robot is WAY cooler and less scary than a bunch of wire and brackets.

Here is CO with his bubblegum smelling nose just before the tooth got pulled.

After the dentist, we are due to swing by the dr. so J can get his needle that he didn't have to get because he had a cold the last time he was at the doctors. (cute story for that day...we were in the truck driving the the app't and CO says to J 'you are going to get a needle J, but just be brave like Daniel and it will be ok because God is with you!'. It made this mama's heart swell with pride.)

After the doctor, we need to run a bunch of errands to pick up a few last minute things needed for our trip to the nation's capital. We leave Tuesday morning and will be gone just over one week. I am SO excited to get away. I am hoping the travel with the two little ones goes smoothly.  We will travel in the morning. Travelling at night with CO doesn't seem to work as he doesn't sleep in the truck when I want him to, only when it is just before nap time and I am rushing to get home so he can go to sleep :)
The plan is to take our time, stop lots, bring lots of snacky foods and try to not go insane. It would have been nice to have a new 'adventures in odessey' but I didn't get it ordered in time. Luckily the boys love to listen to the first two of the series that we have over and over again.

*******************************

Our family has grown!!!

meet

chicky stew (black) and chicky soup (white)

CO was very excited about our recent addition. He even temporarily changed his name to 'chicken farmer'.

 It is his job to let the in and out of the house each day, and to make sure they have food and water. The added bonus is that we have gotten two eggs already!

***************************************

last week's lesson learned:

don't pee in the wind!!!!!!!!!   

 :)

crazy friday!

Friday morning, I cut the grass. In the afternoon it snowed. In the evening I was scrambling in the semi-dark garage to look for my window scraper as my truck was covered in a thick coat of ice...

what a crazy Friday!

a boy and a bag

CO was bugging for me to take him out kite flying. Both boys are loving the nice weather and are spending LOTS of time outdoors. I was cooking supper and had to go to my finace class afterwards so dropping what I was doing to go fly kites wasn't really an option.
Next best thing...

a plastic bag on a kite string :)
I wish I had captured the delight on his face when the bag started flying. He spent lots of time running around flying the bag :)

the stomach flu...a blessing in disguise?

Our house has been a crazy one this past week. A little bug entered and I think it has finally left. Both boys came down with it in the middle of the night Thursday. It lasted all through next day so I called in sick for the weekend. I was thinking that it was only moments before I came down with it myself and I didn't think the boys would want babysitters when they were feeling so now well (plus I want to keep my babysitters and I am not sure that would be likely after a weekend of stomach flu clean-up duty).
I brought out a small tv/vcr and set it up in the livingroom and the boys layed on the couch spending most of Friday watching 5 episodes of 'blue's clues' over and over again while resting on and off. Friday afternoon the sitter called and said that there was a death in the family and she wouldn't be able to work. (which fortunately I had already called into work to have my shift covered so that worked out well). Saturday the illness had slowed down but the energy level in the boys was still low so there was some playing but still lots of resting. I was feeling ok and considering heading back to work as the second sitter hadn't been canceled yet, boy am I glad I didn't .... Saturday evening it hit...hard. It was one of the moments in my life that I wish I had a partner in parenting...because having the stomach flu is much easier without having to look after two boys at the same time. It is also the pits to have no privacy while sick. At one point I was using a bowl and both boys were hovering into my personal space...ug.

Sunday....is a blurr. I had borrowed some VHS movies from the neighbour Friday night and so Sunday I layed on the couch, CO was better and was rotating between playing, resting and enjoying outside with my dad. J, was still not feeling the greatest. So the two of us spent a lot of time on the couch resting. The boys were finally interested in food and spent the day munching on cheerios and applesauce.

By Monday I was feeling better. I ached all over and had a HUGE headache but was much better than Sunday.  By Monday at 11 (new time) both boys were asking to head to bed. Due to the fact they both rested all weekend and slept lots because they weren't feeling well, daylight savings time seems to have gone by without any transition issues...blessing in disguise??? not sure I am willing to cast my vote one way or the other.

Both boys were symptom free all of Monday. J had problems Monday night, but that seemed to be the end of it.
Sunday my mother came down with the flu and Monday my sister. Today...nobody was down and everyone was feeling good...so I think the bug has left the building. Two family members have made it through without catching the bug.






I have taken total advantage of the beautiful weather these last couple of days and opened all the windows to blow the germs away!!

big boys in underwear

I love boys in boxers...now I have two boys full time in underwear! Yeah J! To celebrate I got the boys matching dinosaur underwear. It isn't easy finding underwear small enough for him...he is wearing size 2's in the photo.