Farewell my favorite TV friend

Tonight I will curl up on the couch and watch Oprah’s last show ever with a nice cup of coffee (I know it played last week but I PVR’d it to watch at a time convenient to me J ).  I will say I have not watched all of Oprah’s show’s but as often as I could I enjoyed them.  Perhaps every show was not my cup of tea but I feel that she did a great job at bringing a new way of living into the world.  She has impacted many lives and taught people to be comfortable in their own skin and enjoy life.  There are many treasures in life that we will miss if we just let them pass us by.  For almost 17 years I have watched Oprah, seen her change and evolve.  I was an avid follower of her bookclubs and was exposed to many books that forced me to step outside of the genre of books I was comfortable with.  So today I will toast my coffee to someone who seems like a friend, I will miss your show and lessons!  My life has been personally improved upon because of her inspiration!  So for one final time, see you later miss O!

The age of independence....

This is definitely the stage where the boys want to prove they can do most things themselves (or with limited help).  We stand aside and let them try but keep close for the frequent calls for "help mommy".  Mathew dresses himself completely ...but man his attention span is quite short so he often forgets what his original task was.  Here is a little video of Mattie from the weekend.  He was supposed to be getting himself dressed to go out but somehow I guess the itty bitty skidoo in the other room was more tempting.  So he drives it around, short less, with his slippers on, singing to himself.  Oh to be three again!

 

Dandelions

Well even though the boys think dandelions are flowers I would prefer for them not to be in our yard.  I know this may sounds weird but I actually find it relaxing pulling the dandelions and weeds.  The boys love to just have outdoor play time, so I can just sit and pull weeds while they play in the yard.  It's the perfect compromise.  I'm close and present and yet not intruding on their play.  That's a new milestone lately for them, before they always wanted us playing or participating with them, now they enjoy their playtime together or just on their own.  So let's get rid of these dandelions so we can enjoy our real flowers!  Perhaps I am enjoy it so much because all I hear is them laughing while I work :)  Here's a little video of them playing dodge ball or the like last week while I pulled dandelions :)  Doesn't seem like a game I would enjoy but for some reason they love it.....so who am I to say it's not fun hahaha

Things I hope they learn as they start school!

Well yesterday was bittersweet.  The boys had their orientation for junior kindergarden.  We tried out different learning style stations and even got to ride the school bus.  Overall, they are super excited to go but you can still see the apprehension sometimes.  They just seem so little to me but they are ready for school.  They love their daycare but they are ready to be more challenged now.  The world can be a big scary place so I’m hoping they have a great experience and most of all grow as strong individuals.  Some of my hopes for things they will learn:

-          That even though the world can seem big and scary, embrace that and learn that there are great things to be discovered

-          To be respectful of other people

-          To be nice to people even if others are being mean. 

-          To stand up for what they know is right

-          That their brother is there as a support and they should look out for each other

-          That sharing and being a kind person will allow you to enjoy life more

-          To embrace new experiences

-          To be confident in what they do and learn

-          To remember the things they have been taught at home and take them out into the world

-          That people will like you for exactly who you are, and be proud of it!

-          Never be ashamed to ask for help, the more you ask the more you learn!

-          Knowledge is power, I know that sounds cliché but the more you know the more doors open for you in your life!

-          That silly times with new friends sure brightens your day

-          That home will always be your safe place to fall back on and talk about all the new things this world has to offer you!

I know this is a long list but as I read it....and re-read it.....I realize that all these lessons we can start to learn very early on in life. 

To the world....be kind and grateful....my husband and I are sharing these two gorgeous, smart, kind, caring, loving, fantastic little people.  I just know the rest of the world will love them as much as we do :)

To my two baby boys.....embrace all the new experiences and don't be afraid to take whatever path in life you want! 

Hmm what’s that I see?

A new restaurant opened up near my work and it reminds me of the type of restaurant Jason and I used to go to pre kids.  It has a garage door that opens up when the weather is warm so you are eating French cuisine outside.  Hmm should put that on my list of places to visit.....and that’s when I realized that maybe we have become stuck in a restaurant rut!  We don’t actually go to restaurants often but I have decided that from now on when we do get the chance to go out we should become a little more adventurous again and try a new one as often as we can!  So here’s to a few new culinary experiences this summer, hopefully some wine during those experiences and a few more date or adult nights out!  Bring on the summer!

Can't help but add a few more pics of my mother's day flowers....cause they make me soo happy!

An all girl party!

 Living in a house where I am the only girl means there are a lot of “boy” stuff always going on.  Not this past Saturday!!  I am going to be the matron of honour in my sisters upcoming wedding so this weekend I hosted the wedding shower!  I worked extremely hard to try and add little touch’s to everything to make it a nice memorable afternoon.  My sister’s wedding colour is lipstick so I tried my hardest to incorporate pink into the decorations.  I will say that I absolutely had a great time getting this party ready. 

It was the first time I have ever attempted a fondant icing cake.  It turned out better then expected but still lot’s of room for improvement! 

I think my punch and the punch glasses were my favourite decorations.  I decorated the stems with a pink ribbon and died the sugar pink.  I then found a recipe for pink punch that turned out great. 

 

It was exactly as I had envisioned.  I had a great time with the games and spent the whole time laughing.  To me, that’s a success in my books! 

Can't wait for the wedding now!

Thank you Mr Sunshine!

Saturday was the first day that I was able to just sit outside for a few hours and enjoy it finally being spring.  That’s right the snow is FINALLY gone and we had an entire day without rain!  Woohoo!  Mathew of course had the flu but he stayed inside an napped on the couch while Jason and my dad worked on our downstairs bathroom.  Zach and I were able to join my mom for a nice walk up to the corner grocery store.  It had a grand re-opening this weekend.  I am so excited and realize how little things really do brighten your day.  The new Freshco has a great produce section.  I love it.  It’s walking distance so I can just take the boys in the stroller to pick up quick fruits, veggies and bread/buns.  There had always been a grocery store there but he produce section was always horrible so we often made the trips to the further grocery stores.  Here’s to our first picnic outside and a summer filled with great barbecued veggies!

Learning about Politics

Last night after gymnastics class we took the boys with us to vote.  As we were getting in the car at gymnastics we started telling the boys about how we were going to vote.  Jason took this as a learning opportunity and started telling the boys the importance of having a government.  We went on to tell them that we are lucky in this country to be able to choose our leader.  Jason kept going on about the different parties and trying to describe to them the entire process.  The conversation took us the entire drive to our voting location.  The boys seemed involved and to be understanding what we were saying.  We then pulled in and as Jason was getting Mathew out of the car Mattie exclaims...."Oh no! We forgot our fishing roads".  Jason and I both looked at each other puzzled.....so I dared to ask...Mattie why would we need fishing rods?  He then looked at me like I was crazy "because you said we were going to the boat".....hahaha no to vote silly :)  Lesson Fail!  hahaha

The plague of the Nerf Guns!

Well the Easter Bunny brought the boys Nerf guns that they had been talking about incessantly for a few months now.  They played with them at a friends house (as I have mentioned in a previous post) and have been repeatedly saying how they wanted some for their birthday.  I love how if they want something really bad they say they will ask for it for their birthday J  Easter morning they were sooo excited to get Nerf Guns.....but this mommy needs to get used to a million darts lying all over the house.  They are great about the rules (only against the patio door, outside or in the toy room) but they hoard their darts and carry them everywhere with them.  Oie!