Rylen turns four... (several months ago)

Sigh.

I wish I could stay on top of this blogging thing. Believe it or not it was easier when the kids were up half the night, cause I'd just blog away while holding them or whatever....

Anyways, back in April, my oldest baby turned four!

He was super excited for his birthday this year. Being Four Years Old was going to be AWESOME!

I knew I was going to make him a birthday party with his little friends, but at the last second I decided to make it an airplane theme at the urging of my friend Lisa who claims "it's all about the theme".  So, literally the night before, I was texting her asking for airplane themed ideas.

We came up with: "Musical Runways", "Pin the Airplane on the Runway" and an airplane craft. I also was attempting to make Airplane Cake, the Sequel.

For Rylen's third birthday, I had a MAJOR lapse in judgement and decided to embark on an all-night marathon to make a three dimensional airplane cake. As if I wasn't getting enough sleep and didn't have enough on my plate. End result: Cruise Ship-like plane.

This year, I kept telling myself "Keep It Simple". So I made a classic slab cake and stuck one of his toys on top.  Done.

Smile from last year:

Smile from this year:

No diff right? In fact, this year's smile is bigger!!!
Lesson learned: kids couldn't care less about their cake. They just see that sugary goodness and wouldn't mind if it was in the shape of a piece of poo! (Actually, if you have a boy, they would probably LOVE a poo cake. I know Rylen would....anyways....)

However, I did get a bit carried away and enlisted Mark to make several miniature paper airplanes to adorn the top of my cupcakes. He was also SUPER excited about this idea, similar to how he might be super excited to stab himself in the eye with a fork.

 

Rylen had a great day. In the morning, he awoke to his display of presents, and lo and behold, he opened his much-begged-for garbage truck which met all his requirements for an awesome truck: green, with forks, with a black bin, and a blue bin just like "ours" and it has to be weally weally big.

 

He was a weally weally happy boy!

 

 

 

Later, his friends came over and we started our airplane themed party. The craft was a hit, the games not so much. Musical Runways was a bust. Four year olds don't like "losing" or being "out" so you can't really play by the rules or you end up with major preschooler meltdown.

We ran out of time before we could play "Pin the Airplane on the Runway" so I can't comment on that, but I'm hoping we can stick with the airplane theme for next year and try it out!

Rylen had a great time at his party, although the new garbage truck was the cause of several meltdowns and fights. He wanted to show it off, but did NOT want to share it. I will definitely remember this for future years: do not open a super new and fun toy hours before a party and then expect it to be put away for said party!

Later on, he opened another amazing present from Grandma and Grandpa: a HUGE airplane!!!!

He loved it so much he had to cuddle it at bedtime:

All in all it was a great day. I absolutely cannot believe my little man is four years old. He is so cute and smart and hilarious. I LOVE four year olds!!! I need to stay on top of blogging so I can later on remember all the cool things he does and says. He is really such a unique little boy and we love him to pieces.

I love you Rylen!!!

Winter....thank goodness that's over!!!

I have been a very delinquent blogger this winter and it makes me sad cause I have missed documenting so many cute quotes and funny things that my kids have done.

But, we have been busy. Busy being sick. Busy being sleep deprived and busy having cabin fever. Winter was NEVER ENDING!

My family (mostly the kids)  had a horrible season riddled with colds, stomach flu, bronchitis, ear infections, bladder infections....its been awful! I am seriously not exaggerating even a bit, when I say that Garrett and Rhys have been sick non-stop since October.

Really, it's true. I think we had a two week break over Christmas (which was great timing I'll admit) but other than that, they've had green snotty noses, coughs, fevers and let's not forget the vomit! By January, I started to think that my kids did not have functioning immune systems at all. I began to get paranoid about our house and what kind of bacteria or mould we were harbouring. I started researching and making my own cleaning solutions out of vinegar and essential oils. I started supplementing everyone with vitamin D, flax oil, and probiotics.

My pediatrician assured me that nope, immune systems are fine, house is fine, it's just been a BAD winter. In fact, he said it is the worst winter he's seen EVER!

As I write this, we are currently enjoying another bout of SOMETHING which involves green snot and sore throats. This time they are all taking turns, thus dragging the whole thing out for much longer that my sanity can handle.

But, YAY spring is finally here!!! It is so incredibly nice to get outside and run around. What a difference it makes in everyone's mood and energy levels! It's great!

But, just for the sake of good ( and not so good) memories, here's a very brief recap of that awful, cold, snowy winter:

Well, in between me washing 100 loads of pukey clothes and sheets and wandering around in public unaware that I had dried snot all over me (unaware or did not care??? hmmm...) we did actually have a bit of fun....






We scuba dived:

 We brought the snow inside:

 

We drove cars:

We tobogganed:

 

We had glow baths:

We did some crafts:

We jumped on our trampoline:

In February we attended a wedding and had a lovely hotel stay and did lots of swimming:

We had a great visit from Mark's sister and family at Easter and our boys got to have lots of play time with their cousins:

 

We did the Winter Fair again, and this year it went MUCH better. (If you remember last year, we were basically insane for even attempting it!):

 

 

 

We made some messes:

 

 

We played with the dishwasher (all-time favorite toy):

 

We took some naps (but not nearly enough):

 

We attempted a few walks and outside playtime but two thirds of my children hated their snowsuits and mittens:

 

We explored:

 

 

There was a whole bunch of cuteness that happened:

 

 

 

 

I guess looking back, we had a pretty good time. But, we are super excited for spring ("the grass, the grass!!!!!" Rylen yelled when the first few blades were visible...he is totally ready for summer!) We are looking forward to trying out some camping this year and just enjoying the weather. So far, so good! The boys have been having a blast outside!

 

Oh! Can't forget some memorable quotes from Rylen:

 

"So, the bees bring the honey to Superstore?"

" Lets play that we're builders. My name is Roy G. and you are Roy F."

"Here's the deal mom...."

" Mooooom! Garrett blessed on me!" (Garrett had sneezed. Guess he misunderstood what "Bless You" means.  

"Mom, Didi hit his brother. It was just a gong show mom."  (Didi is his imaginary friend) I almost peed my pants laughing at that one. Never heard his say "gong show" before.

 

Okay, hopefully it won't be another several months between blog posts again. Next up: Rylen's bday recap and Mother's Day!

 

Fuzzy Blankets

My babies love their blankets. It's a new concept for me because Rylen didn't ever attach himself to any item like a blanket, stuffy or soother. Actually, that's not totally true. Rylen actually carried around one of our t-shirts as a comfort item. It was pretty cute.

But these guys have enjoyed their blankets from very early on. They don't really have a preference for any specific blanket, but whichever one they get has to be fuzzy, soft and have a nice corner to chew on.

We have about a million of these blankets, but of course tug-of-wars still break out from time to time.

Rhys tends to hoard the blankets and also steals them from Garrett.

It amazes me how from very early on they could both seek out a corner to chew on.

I have to say these blankets have been a lifesaver at times when there isn't quite enough of mommy to go around.

Welcome Home Daddy!!

For the past month I have been single parenting. With a lot of help. Free help from awesome family and friends. And hired help as well.

Truth is, my crew require two parents. In fact we could probably make use of a third parent but we are not that adventurous nor do we have the time to arrange such a thing ( I'm joking, although recently while watching Sister Wives I had the epiphany that four moms in a family isn't such a bad idea!)

Anyways, my bout of single parenting made me realize a few things. First of all, single parents are my new heroes. Don't know how they do it!

Second, Mark and I could never get a divorce ( not that we want to, and I hope we never want to, but if for some reason we did, we actually couldn't cause I NEED that guy for our family to function!)

Third, I am the wimpiest army wife ever. Pre-kids, I wouldn't have batted an eyelash at a month long separation, but as we all know, kids change everything. I found it hard, and the kids did too. Rylen for the last two weeks has focused his play on "daddy being on course"... Every two seconds he was bringing it up. Clearly he was missing his pal.

It didn't help that my kids aren't great sleepers ( well actually one of them downright sucks at sleeping) and were also sick for 75% of the time that Mark was gone. ( I made four trips to the walk in clinic in nine days!!)

Anyways, call me a wimp or whatever but I was counting down to today like crazy!!

Rylen was super excited for his Daddy's arrival. He had it all planned out ( and we even practiced) that he was going to yell "Daddy!!!!!" and run like mad and give him a huge hug. But when the time actually came, he got all shy and emotional and hid his face in my leg. It was super cute.
Garrett and Rhys seemed pretty excited to see their dad too. Huge smiles from both!!!

It was so heartwarming to see them light up at their dad's face.

Welcome home Mark! You are one very loved guy!!!

Christmas...was that a month ago already?

A little late but never too late to say that we had an awesome Christmas 2012!

Truthfully, anything would have been better than last year. But, this year was super great for so many reasons.

Here's a brief review:

Elf on the Shelf whom Rylen first named Simon and then changed to Phillip. Note: Phillip did not have the desired effect of prompting good behavior. In fact, he quickly became a bit of a bother. And I'm not going to lie, he maintained his perch on the light for many many many days. No cutesie marshmallow bubble baths for this guy!

 

 

Putting up the Christmas tree which lasted about 10 minutes before a barricade had to be established.

 

Rylen being Santa on Christmas Eve

 

 

New Giroux Family picture!

 

 

Stockings...handmade by my talented Grandma!

 

 

Milk and "cookies" and letters to Santa

 

 

Three happy boys Christmas morning

 

 

Steam train! Santa came through! And he hasn't put it down since. (That face is actually a happy one believe it or not!)

 

 

Garrett and Rhys taking it all in.

 

 

Christmas with kids is so much fun! I almost can't wait for next year, except for unfortunately it's a lot of work too. I think I decided that next year I want to be all done my preparations in October. Then I can just enjoy the season with no timelines or rushing around.

Brothers

One of my favorite pictures:

 

 

I love how they do everything together. They are rarely far from eachother. Rhys is often the leader, and Garrett follows.

 

It's so sweet. I hope this lasts forever.

For Mark: Happy Anniversary

Six years,

Five billion kisses, hugs, snuggles, laughs, smiles and hours of FUN,

Four beautiful baby boys,

Three healthy, happy sons,

Two best friends,

One awesome life together .

Love you and miss you.

And thanks for the flowers!