Kindergarten on the horizon...

I feel like I'm in a race to have fun as September approaches but the weather is holding me back! We've tried to work around the weather and have had a great month so far. My cousin Jessica and her 22 month old daughter, Priya came to town on the 26th and we all got a good chance to bond! The boys adored Priya and were all over her from the moment they woke up in the morning and saw these strangers in our basement! Luckily Priya enjoyed the attention they smothered her with and they all got along great. After she stayed at our place for a few days I took them to Steinbach and surprised my grandma with Jessica's arrival. We had wonderful family BBQ s and cousin's only dinners and then of course my grandma's 85th party. It was an emotional week as we all bonded and caught up and realized that there's nothing more special than family ties! After that week was over we spent some time renewing our strength! And then went full swing into birthday parties, beach days, and many outings. The boys have been doing really well as I drag them all over in an effort to soak up as much sun as possible! We've also been working at home on our yard which has really tired us out. This last weekend the boys had a much anticipated sleepover with Nana and Chris and I went to a wedding. It was nice to get dressed up and we had a nice evening. My mom is on holidays this week so if the pouring rain would ever let up, then we'll do some more outings. Carson really wants to play mini golf so that would be fun. Today I am taking shelter and cleaning up pee as I leave Caleb naked all day. Thanks SHAMWOW! Actually he's doing well and had some fun taking a pen to my ivory dining room chairs. That's OK I needed a project today...the joys of motherhood! This week will be busy for Chris as he continues to pack before he gets posession of his new building next week. There are lots of interesting challenges that are exciting but draining as well. Being in the Auto Mall and selling new cars will be a whole new ball game! See ya in a Kia!

Keeping the Boys Busy!

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I was going to put up a a picture of our day at the zoo (Carson's fave) but Carson took all the pics and they are just of animals and none of us! Stacey and Dan came with us that day so it was nice to have help and the boys are thrilled to hang out with them. We had a great day with my inlaws at the lake the day after we went to the zoo. It was nice to spend the day with them and we were so proud of Carson when he rode on the tube all around the lake with his Grampi. After we had a great supper at Falcon Lake and the boys enjoyed an ice cream. What a mess! Carson had a great week at camp where everything was pirate themed. Even Caleb was saying Ahoy Mateys! It was nice to have a bit of a break and Caleb was an angel. I guess without his brother bugging him he could relax and enjoy snuggling with mommy and playing with his toys. The boys and I enjoyed Walking With the Dinosaurs. We sat in the box which was nice to have the extra space since I was alone with the 2 of them. It's nice this year that I can handle doing things like that. It was a great show and neither of them were scared, although the T-Rex was pretty crazy. I've been at several baby showers lately and have enjoyed some "lady" time and fancy sandwiches. I have one more this Sunday. This week we had a great day at Tinkertown where the boys went on every ride and had alot of fun. I love that place! We also had a great time picking strawberries with my mom last Saturday. The boys loved it. Carson kept asking "Is this a good one, Nana as he picked and Caleb just stood with his mouth open while we popped the berries in. So funny. Now I've just been preparing for my cousin's arrival tomorrow and look forward to alot of visiting in the next week. I hope the boys will last cuz it will be a very busy week! Here's some pictures! I've included the picture of one of our resident foxes who sat on our rock in our island right outside our garage. He didn't budge as we all stared at him. Brave-him and us!

Summer in full swing!

Here's some pictures of the boys over the past few weeks enjoying some of the activities that we have been doing. It's nice to see a little bit of brown on everyone's arms from being out in the sun. Caleb is the darkest! The boys have been loving the rides at the fair, IMAX, the bouncers at the Canada Day celebration at the park and our boat. We've only gotten to use it once so far but we settled right back into life on the boat and the boys did too. Grampi and Uncle Steve came along and we really enjoyed that special day with them. We can't go on the river in the city because the water level is too high and things have been busy around the yard and stuff to get out too much. All of our "boat friends" had babies and are out of commission for the summer! Next week Carson goes to camp so we'll see how that goes. Hopefully Caleb and I will get a bit of a breather! I'll also post a video of Caleb on the way home from the lake singing along to the ipod. See if you can make out the song. The hint is that it is from the boys fave movie. The other pics are of us at Carson's friend's house for a swim and a fun day at a "spray pad" with cousins. Fun times!!

I had to make a quick post so I could show this hilarious picture I took the other day of the boys running in the sprinkler. It's a miracle that they even stuck to one activity longer than 5 minutes and afterward Carson continued in his nakedness to try and give Caleb rides on the tobaggan. So funny! Too bad the mosquitos are already out in full force!

June has proven to be just as busy as we thought it would be and with the nice weather finally arriving it has a whole different feel. We even have our air conditioning on and I wore a tank top-woh! The other morning we were playing outside on the play structure and Carson whined, "It's too hot!" Oh brother! Anyways, I seem to be a tad obsessed with the weather but seriously I just planted my flowers yesterday and I've been stuck in the house since October! Today I think I'll finish this quickly so we can get out to a park in the area and then I have to go buy diapers which sucks but what can you do? Caleb refuses to wear pullups even with the Lightning McQueen pictures. Carson is really good at encouraging him which is cute but he is so stubborn and will not go anywhere near them. Must be a security thing. Until we're over that hurdle it'll be tough to be completely potty trained.Too bad because he would be done no problem - oh well...
We had a great and busy weekend on June 13 and 14 and we are still recovering! Not really, but we are still talking about it. Carson had a great birthday party and despite a little fear at first that everyone else in Winnipeg decided to have a birthday party at the park, we finally found a great spot. It was so weird having 12 kids to organize and I was so thankful to have the help of other mom's because I'm not super great at it but we had fun playing a few games. Luckily my mom brought a parachute from work that went over really well and of course boys this age just want to play soccer! We also had a pinata that was so fun! It was so nice to spend such a beautiful afternoon with family and friends and see the happiness on Carson's face. I got quite a few compliments on the party and that made me feel good because I had put alot of effort into it and us moms never get any recognition. I started to think I was going crazy cuz I was obsessing so much about the party but I guess that's what mom's do.
On Sunday we had our church picnic which was a really great time with just Chris and the boys. It was some quality family time and the boys had lots of fun with all the activities they had for them. After that we rushed to Chris's grandma's 90th birthday party. It was very nice once I realized that I could not control my boys and their cousins as they ran through the room like crazy. "Boys will be boys" was a common phrase that day. I was glad to drop the boys off at my mom's after that while Chris and I took Chris's cousin from BC out for dinner. I really wanted to have an actual adult conversation with him and it was nice to catch up.
The following pics show some fun from the events I just mentioned. Off to the park!

I guess you can say that we had a busy month. There are a lot of celebrations in May so we had every weekend booked this month. My mom and I enjoyed an evening out at Stacey's boyfriend's sister's social. It was a first to be having a drink and dancing with my sister and her friends while my mom watched! Of course my shoes weren't as high (although I was able to keep mine on) and I didn't bare as much skin but I enjoyed dancing to a few oldies (ie-Backstreets Back-Alright! haha) The next day was Carson's recital which was awesome. We were so proud of him and he played his songs on a grand piano (for the first time) perfectly. The rest of the weekend was spent raking 2 acres of grass. Yes, we're crazy. It was brutal but nice to spend all day outside with the kids, accomplishing something together. I can't wait till they can help! Carson has started soccer on Monday nights and he enjoys it despite his interesting coach who has never seen a a child in his life...poor guy. The parents just sit on the side and snicker as he talks to these 4 year olds like they're 12 and goes into long winded explanations while they kick the ball around the gym aimlessly. One new mom on Monday summed it up when she said "Is this guy for real?" Oh well Carson is excited because he's the oldest and is running circles around the little ones. Most kids his age are in community club soccer but I thought I'd wait till next spring. Mother's Day was nice. We had a busy lunch with Chris's family at Olive Garden which I would have enjoyed had I been alone! Not nice, but tough to eat with the little ones anywhere other than McDonald's! Carson had his first field trip at the museum which was weird for me but Caleb and I kept busy at our last playgroup where we usually get together on Wednesdays when Carson is in school. Last weekend we had a great day at my father in law's 60th birthday party. We had a surprise outdoor BBQ for his family and friends and it went off without a hitch. I was in charge of food and that kept me busy shopping and stuff which was nice to have a little project. My sister in law came from BC and it was also great to watch the kids go nuts playing outside all day. Saving the best news for last, I have a new niece! We were shocked to hear that my sister in law Tanis had a baby girl last week as we all expected it to be a boy! What a great surprise! Her name is Taylor and we're excited to throw her into the mix! Well, tonight we are going to see a movie premiere as a family which is rare that a kids movie comes out. It's called Up and looks great in the commercials. Carson has a "Stay and Play" at his kindergarten on Friday and then we'll see what's up for my birthday weekend. Soon we'll be done preschool and then it will be Carson's birthday and after that we can just enjoy summer! Long time coming!! Here's a bunch of pictures of what we've been up to.
Carson at music class, his recital and at preschool. At my mom's work where she had a petting zoo one day. At my Father in law's party having fun with cousin's. Carson with his new cousin and can you spot Chris and Caleb at the hockey game? If you're not a blogger shoot me off an email to let me know you're reading this so I know someone is looking at it!