Sam, do you need to go to the potty? NO!

Well....I've been attempting to potty train Samuel since Friday. I had a plan, a great plan....Andrew went to Aunty Mel's for the day, I had Luke's naps planned out for the day, every thing was going to be perfect and I would have one less kid's diapers to change by the end of the day.

To make a long story short my attempt hasn't been successful and I'm mostly to blame. I'm contemplating giving up due to my frustration with the whole process.




Firstly, I didn't read the book ("How to Potty Train in less than a day") I use as a guideline thoroughly enough before starting. Now after an accident has occured I quickly look through the book for advice. I'm being very reactive versus proactive. The book also focuses on being very positive and encouraging throughout the process and that requires A LOT of patience which is hard to have when you have two other young kids to care for. At this moment I'm not feeling very positive. Luke's really sick, Mommy is sick, Andrew's feeling neglected and Daddy...well Daddy jsut wants this to be done and feel's potty training shouldn't be one of his duties.

Looks like I have to cut this short, Luke just woke up and is crying, Samuel just peed in his underwear in the living room and my stomach is turning. Please pray that my next attempt is more successful!

Oh yes...and the title....everytime we mention the potty to Sam he screams NO!

Our Jolly Jumper

Luke typically loves the jolly jumper and will stay in it for 1/2 hour or so. This picture was taken one day when he had enough. As long as his brothers are around when he's in it, he loves it.

Cutting Out naps.

I have been trying to cut out Andrew's daytime nap for the last month or two. Somedays he just can't handle not having a nap. He was having cereal for a snack the other day while I was nursing Luke. Mel popped in just as I finished nursing and we discovered Andrew napping like this and had quite a laugh.

Strong.

So...I got home from getting groceries tonight and Andrew wanted to help carry them from the garage to the kitchen. As I handed him a 4L jug of milk he said....
" I can't lift it Mom, I'm only a little bit strong."

Andrew: "Nana and Papa are gone home...that makes me so sad."

Okay...so the flash blocks out what the chalkboard says...but it says "we miss you Nana and Papa."

Please note that there is a chalk line down the middle of the chalkboard to resolve conflicts that were taking place. Daddy decided that each boy gets half of the chalkboard and can't touch or erase the other person's side!

Thank you soo much Dad and Denise for this easel. The kids love it!

Nana and Papa's visit

Nana and Papa were just here for a week long visit. We were spoiled with

cuddles, playtime and lots of toys!

Thanks for coming Nana and Papa, we hope you had as much fun as we did!

"Elephant Ears"

So...the saying is true that children have ears the size of elephants. On Saturday I was checking my mailbox for flyers quite frequently so I could make my Christmas shopping list. Our flyer boy is very inconsistent with our flyers and this happened to be a Saturday that he wasn't going to deliver. Apparently I was sputtering away about it because I overheard Andrew, while looking out the window, saying: "where is that rotten boy anyways?"

For those of you who don't know Ken's Dad, he is a man with very unique terminology and expressions. " Rotten" is a word he frequently uses that has rubbed off on my vocabulary.

"BUM SHOT"

This is Luke's pudgey bum! Our neice Andrea bought this "hempie" (Dutch word for undershirt) for him awhile ago.

I couldn't resist taking this picture!

"Our Three Little Duckies"

Last night was our first attempt to bath all three boys together and it went really well. Luke was so excited to be with his brothers and was kicking and splashing like crazy. We have finally upgraded Luke from the kitchen sink to the tub. As you can see he wasn't fitting so well anymore!

5 months old.

"The Claus Cause"

Horray! Ken and I ran in our first 5km race together. In the last few years when I wasn't pregnant I've been running and have competed in a few races. I absolutely love it! So I've been running since the middle of September around 18-20km a week! I mentioned to Ken that I wanted to do this race awhile ago and he said he wouldn't mind doing it with me. So 2 weeks before the race Ken decided he should probably start running. He is in pretty good shape as it is, playing hockey, floor hockey and lifting weights etc. but this was something different.

I am very pleased to say that I beat Ken by 1/2 a second. We actually weren't competing against each other this is just how our times are displayed on the results. We crossed the finish line together and holding hands at that. Awwww...



I love my husband sooo much and I'm so glad that we did this together!










Women aged 30-39 - I placed 3 out of 31 women.

There were 158 women in the race and I placed 11.

Overall 240 people ran in the race and I was 31/240.

I had a set goal in mind and beat it by 1 minute! Can't wait for the next one!

"Not Dragon, heh heh!"

This is a story about a cute little boy named Samuel who had a dragon named "heh heh."

One day a sweet little girl from Nova Scotia, named Lydia came to Samuel's birthday party. Now this little girl loved stuffed animals, especially Webkinz. She pondered and pondered over what to get Samuel for his birthday present. She decided she would introduce him to her Webkinz fetish and buy him a cute little turtle. But...since Lydia loved webkinz sooo much she couldn't resist buying a beautiful pink dragon that was the colors of moonmist icecream for herself.

When Lydia went to give Samuel his cute little turtle she could hardly contain her excitement. Samuel who had been busy opening presents all morning took one look at his new turtle, then looked at the beautiful pink dragon in Lydias hand. He quickly dropped the turtle and reached out for Lydia's beautiful dragon. Did I already mention that this dragon was PINK? Lydia hesitated at first but then decided she would give Samuel her dragon since he loved it so much!

This was the beginning of life with "heh heh." Heh heh has been welcomed by most of the family, although Daddy is taking a bit longer to warm up to the fuzzy pink dragon. We have tried numerous times to explain to Samuel that Heh Heh is a dragon and he responds in a defensive tone, "not dragon, heh heh."

Over the past few weeks we have discovered that the word heh heh means horsey to Samuel. So he believes that his dragon is a horsey.

Yesterday was insight into a 3 year old's mind and today is insight into a two year old's. Welcome to my life as a stay at home mom!

Daddy's birthday.

So, Ken is turning 32 tomorrow and I asked Andrew to make a card for his Daddy. It doesn't look like a whole lot so I thought I would write down a conversation that we had regarding Daddy's b'day. I plan to print this off and put it in Ken's card for him to read.

Mom: Andrew, Do you love Daddy?
Andrew: (nods head yes) and I love Nannie. (his great-grandmother in N.S.)
Mom: Why do you love Daddy?
Andrew: cause…cause I making him a card.
Mom: What do you like to do with Daddy?
Andrew: What?
Mom: Do you like to play hockey with Daddy?
Andrew: yah with my little hockey stick and outside I can play hockey with Daddy on the ice.
Mom: Do you like to play with your train with Daddy?
Andrew: nope.
Mom: Do you like to sit with Daddy in church?
Andrew: yes, because I was reading the Bible while I sit beside Daddy.
Mom: What should we get Daddy for his birthday?
Andrew: a moose, so he can hold it, just a little one.
Mom: What should we make Daddy for supper on his birthday?
Andrew: nothing, I don’t like it.
Mom: What kind of birthday cake should we make for Daddy?
Andrew: a fox. ( I think he said this b/c we just made a horsey cake for Sam's b'day a few weeks ago)


Anyways it doesn't make tons of sense but gives you some insight into a 3 year old's mind!

Doesn't this just melt your heart?

Ang and Pete and the kids( Ken's sister) were taking care of Andrew and Sam for the night, so Ken, Luke and I could get away to the cabin in the mountains.
First, for those of you who don't know, Andrew and Sam share a room and are inseparable for the most part. One doesn't leave a room for 5 minutes without the other following.

So Ang tried to put Sam to bed in the pack and play in her craft room by himself. He wasn't too fond of the idea so she moved the pack and play into Andrea's (9 yr.old neice) room where Andrea and Andrew were sharing a bed. Apparently Andrea woke up through the night and couldn't find Andrew anywhere in her bed or on her floor. She then peeked into the pack and play to check on Sam, and Andrew and Sam were in there together sound asleep!!

Isn't that the cutest thing ever?