it's all fun and games

movies and jumping

i took nate to the movies on saturday, i insisted we get there early to get a seat. we did. lol. the place was empty, we picked our prime seats and about 5 mins later the place filled up! ellie was suppose to come but she was still sick, i left her on the couch all bundled up

and came home to this

out cold, asleep on the couch

my sleeping princess!

monday it was flipping COLD. an awful -22! we went to get air, it was joeys first time and we had the place to our self (the home school group) there was almost 200 home schoolers there! i tried to chat up with friends, but i spent most of the time chasing joey!

joey and ellie played together for the most part, then ellie left the toddler area to join the bigger kids. joey was confused at first but after 10 mins she went off and played with some other kids...and kept me busy chasing after her...making sure she didnt go in the big kid area

2 workers played organized games with the older kids, its nice to see how well they play, and they even played that banned game of dodge ball! ha

my friend lise watched joey while i was able to spend time with ellie. joey loves lise and spent most of the time jumping with her

so the cold turned to rain! we had a crazy rain flow yesterday so the original plan of having claude over to build forts in the snow turned into game day! and everyone knows how much i LOVE board games. sigh. i did it for the kids. but im impressed with how little screens the kids had and how they really enjoyed playing games and lego. the boys even let ellie play with them

i had to keep joey on my lap while she was awake. joey is a little fire ball, leaving a blaze of ashes when she leaves

can you see a foot? and a hand? this is what they did after supper. they buried each other under piles of blankets and pillows and ellie jumped on them!

GREAT FUN!

joey just chilled, it was past her bedtime and she wanted to go to sleep...it was 6:15! haha

little miss joey also caught a cold, she is not feeling well, which means late nights in the rocking chair and mornings of snuggles

till she falls asleep in my arms. i dont mind at all!

my crazy crew!

pucker princess

and with that we made it 1/2 way through the week!!! yipee.......friday is coming! ha

gosh i dont like cold January days! 1 comments

Posted by mel at 10:08 AM

the rocking chair

normally when i put the girls to bed we read a book in ellie's room on the "book mat" ( mom and dad, the book this month is the one you gave them) i have the girls sit on the mat and we read a book together, then i put ellie to bed, and then joey.

this past week or so, after i put joey to bed she cried out for me. totally NOT her regular self. so about a week ago, ive made the habit to go back in her room, pick her up, and rock her. then i sing to her, and talk to her. i tell her how special, love loved and how glad she is in our family. each time i make a statement, she nods her head in agreement. i totally melt.

so last night, after a LONG day, i put the girls to bed. i went to settle in doing what i planned to spend my evening doing (journaling , and school planning....very exciting i know!) and low and behold. joey was crying. i put my stuff away, went in to her room and picked her up

i took her to the rocker
and rocked her
and told her all the things i know
that she is so loved, so wanted, such a joy and such a delight to have in our family
her sobs slowed
to a tiny hick up
then i heard nothing
as i sang a song, and rocked her, joey fell asleep in my arms

my plans for the night ended
mu thoughts drifted
how many miles did i spend in this rocker? all 3 kids? almost 10 yrs old? the stories this rocker has
the nights that never seemed to end....but they did
the naps that i tried to happen...they did happen....or not
the hugs and tears
the love and joy
this rocking chair has so many miles on it

and i choose to push away my plans for the night, and choose to hold my baby instead. i was surprised by the tears that fell from my cheeks and on to her hair

im blessed
and i choose to spend my saturday night holding and loving you my joey

in the middle of crazy
and fighting the fears on not being enough, i choose to love my kids. all 4 of them. such value and love they bring to me

so blessed 2 comments

Posted by mel at 6:03 PM

last week

nate got 3 lego kits for christmas. i made the newbie mistake of buying him a set aged 10+...oops...BUT nate put the thing together! by HIMSELF!!!! i was ubber impressed watching him work on it. he read and followed the instructions (good swiss boy he is!) the above pic is the set from uncle jon and aunty jess

below he was working on the 600+ pc set! and he put it together himself!

joey my little crafter! she made crafts with me this week! she LOVES markers and gluing! so fun to watch her go

joey also loves to dance and entertained us all with her moves

while poor ellie spent the last part of the week on the couch

poor thing go sick. burned a fever and just laid on the couch
i spent lots of time snuggling her
she is such a sweet girl

trying to get a group pic of the girls. hahaha
i was trying to read to them...but joey wanted to play baby instead and ellie went back to the couch to rest

she put herself on the couch. no tv. she just rested

poor thing

on thrus i took the kids to the library to play. we lasted about 40 mins before ellie declared herself too sick and wanted to go to bed

not before joey put on a show with her dinosaurs. she LOVES dinosaurs

love it

my boy found a stack of books to read and take home....i now allow nate to borrow books. ha

and friday we did a lot of this
joey played with her babies
ellie read and napped
nate read his stack of library books

but i made him go back to school
i am so proud of my boy. proud of the young man he is turning into
proud that his social life is busier than mine
how did MY kid become so popular?

and more reading and couch time was had

and ellie is still on the couch today. her fever broke, thank goodness. so now shes just napping and laying around 0 comments

Posted by mel at 2:56 PM

get air!

yesterday was the first session for the home school group at get air in moncton. bec the schools are out until next week (we start back to our school today) the place was PACKED. chris had the day off so i kept joey home with him so she could nap. SO glad i did! joey would have been trampled, it was SO busy...ellie was suppose to stay in the under 46" side but kept sneaking over to the big kid area. she kept up with her big brother and his crew

practicing her spidey skills

then she went over to the trampoline foam pit, which is for the older kids....i got a few pics of her acting

strike your pose

ready

set

off she goes

this is the trampoline...jump!

voila!

see her tiny head

then nate went

off he goes

flip!

i love ellies face. she was so proud of her brother
this place is HUGE, and SO fun. all of nates friends were their and i was able to sit and chat with some home school moms...which is always easier when joey isnt around. ha

i was surprised by how many ppl i saw/met while there. ive been in moncton for 11 yrs now, thats a long time. ive noticed lately that most times when i go out, i run into ppl i know. i remember feeling like this in sackville and pei. i felt like those places are home. after yesterday and running into so many ppl i know, then later when running errands....im beginning to feel at home here in moncton. its rare now that i dont see someone i know

i came into the room last night and found the kids like this
nate was playing dr with them

he gave them a full check up andclean bill of health

he is so good with his sisters

with nate gone last week, i noticed 2 things

1-the house was QUIET!
2-the girls play together a lot! like i was able to leave the room and get things done while they played. i am beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. having 2 under 2 in 2 yrs was exhausting, relentless and taxing. but since i came back from my trip ive noticed that i am starting to get more me time again, the girls are getting older and play together. i sm SO glad we had the girls. SO glad we had joey, i think long term its going to be easier to have the girls so close in age...and they have built in besties! ha

we had a great start to a new, fresh year! 1 comments

Posted by mel at 9:18 AM

new years!

i was surprised by a good friend with a christmas gift, a beautiful local crafted candle and the most touching card. im not pne for words but what she wrote in the card made me cry. im keeping it. its just nice to be told that you are valued by someone. its the season right?

we went up to hali on sat to pick nate up and stay new yrs eve. nate had SO much fun! shawns had the week off and he took the kids bowling, to the pool, mcdee's, and the movies (cry took them to the movies) they played with the new video games, played together and had such a great time. thank you SO much shawn for spending time with nate, he really likes you, thank you cry for hugging nate and being there for him when i wasnt. nate had a grat time and it was the best way for him to spend his vacation!

chrlaie and ellie played together the whole time. chris was surprised by how well the girls play together!