HAPPY 3rd BIRTHDAY!

Dear Rhys,

The time is flying by and you are growing so fast!
I wish you so much love on your special day.
Never stop with your chortling belly laugh, it makes my day every time I hear it.
Never stop admiring your sister, she loves you so much and is one of your very best friends no matter how much it seems you annoy her sometimes.
Never stop coming for cuddles and hugs, any time, my arms are open.

I hope this is a magical year for you with new adventures and amazing experiences. It will be different, you will be asked to be a little more independent as Brea steps off to school and you will be "on your own" for the very first time but there will be new friends and we will help you every step of the way. I am so proud of who you are becoming (sometimes an impish monkey) and I love you so very much. You will never stop being my own sweet little boy.

Happy 3rd Birthday!

xoxo

Backblogged: Spring Break 2013 - Elko, Laughlin & Oatman

It is horrifying to see that time has flown by so quickly. I had not intended to have such a long hiatus from the blogging world but I suppose life has just taken over. It's that time of year where everything just seems like a constant-flow and even a small distraction, say posting a blog entry would be the END OF THE WORLD because how could I possibly have time for that?! How silly for me to think that sharing those important moments would be a waste of time? I must be going crazy!

So, due to this large chunk of time that has amassed, I am creating a sub-blog. These "new" entries titled appropriately as "Backblogged" will serve to fill in those voids of time.

We managed to get away during spring break to Arizona to spend some time in the sun and visit with Nana and Grumpa. Along the way, we had some stops. I had been sharing a book by Roland Smith with the students at school as a part of a language arts read-aloud project. The book - "Zach's Lie" takes place in Elko, NV. As I was looking at an old-school paper map I noticed that our journey southwards came really close to Elko and I managed to persuade Craig to veer off for a short detour for a photo-op at some of the settings in the book. The kids got a kick out of seeing those places for 'real' when I showed the slideshow after the break. Sadly, the one place I really wanted to try, a restaurant/hotel in town that served Basque food, was closed the day we dropped by but the owner did let me in to take some pictures. The line "but I came ALL the way from Canada and I would love a picture for my students at my school" worked really well.

At the Northeastern Nevada Museum

Much of our view, the whole way there, usually without the mountains.

We did have to shoo a few off the road for us to drive on.

We were so thankful to arrive. We had a small hiccup a few hours in on Day 1 where we may have run out of fuel but it had also been a while since we've had multi-day drives and though Brea and Rhys were wonderful, it was nice to reach our destination on Day 3. The park where we stayed was lovely! There was a swimming pool that Brea took to right away. She was so proud of her new swimming skills, she really wanted to show them off.

Sweet Home Arizona!

While Grumpa whisked Craig off to a baseball game, Nana, the kids and I took a little drive over the water to see some fancy cars in Loughlin. Rhys was in heaven! There is nothing that our little guy loves more than things with wheels. In fact, his delight rubbed off on the man who was working at the museum that day. When he heard Rhys's gasp and saw his glee at seeing the DeLorean, he quickly, moved the barricade and allowed him to experience sitting behind the wheel. It was so nice to see him happy. Rhys had a hard time adjusting to being away from home, mostly at night before bed. The last time we were out and about, I don't think he had a clear definition in his mind of where home was since he was younger but this time around, he was really anxious if Craig was away such as this day with the cars. Shortly after the museum visit, he melted-down and really wanted to go home.

With the family re-grouped the next day, we headed to Oatman to see the wild burros. We arrived armed with carrots to entice them. And what fun we had! Rhys would have fed every single one if we had let him; Brea was not so keen on the slobber.

It's hard to see but the sticker on its head says: STOP! Don't Feed Me! I'm a baby!

Who hasn't seen a turtle in the desert?

The title says it all.

We stopped at some of the little shops in town, many were so cute. Our adventures will continue in the next installment of the backblogs...

Does he have a hollow leg?

Rhys eating his first apple "like a big boy" back in February (ie. whole, not sliced by Mommy)

We just finished breakfast for dinner. Something that Craig and I have loved to do even before we had kids. Rhys had devoured his waffle (topped with cherries and blueberries), 1.5 scrambled eggs, his hash (hashbrowns mixed with red peppers, corn, green onions, bacon and ham), a scoop of plain greek yogurt with the waffle topping fruit. Craig and I sit on either side of him at the table. He turns to face me, leans in and whispers, "I'm hungry Mommy, I want more yogurt".
I turn to Craig in disbelief, he felt Rhys's tummy which was hard and said, "Rhys I think you're full. Do we need to test you for a missing gene?"
"My jeans?" Rhys asks.
He rubs his pants, "these are not jeans."
Craig: "Nevermind Rhys, I don't think you need any more yogurt."
Rhys turns to me again and whispers to me, "how 'bout some hashbrowns? I need some hashbrowns".
I laughingly turn him down.
Finally, he climbs onto Craig's lap and watches Brea eat her waffle, he eyes her and sees that she doesn't seem to want to finish it. He whispers to Craig, "I want some waffle Daddy."
Truly, I have no idea where he packs it into such a little body.
And yes, he may have snuck a few more bites of hashbrowns from me.

Make Believe!

We recently attended a magical fairy birthday party. The children were visited by Loria the Fairy Queen of Flowers who brought costumes to transform them into magical beings, painted their faces, and led them on a most rapturous adventure of songs and music. The kids were spellbound by it all. I love this age where the line between reality and fantasy is blurred and the most amazing things can happen.

A rainbow fairy and a wee but tough dragon.

Rhys was especially smitten, which has not been like him before. He loves his race cars above all else but will happily dress up with his sister in her tutus or princess costumes. However, lately he's been the one initiating it. Today when I got home he was happily running being a superhero with his cape flaring out behind him.

So I shouldn't have been too surprised when as I was putting him to bed he became all upset and suddenly started crying because he missed his "dragon face".

He's been talking about being half dragon and half Rhys since the party. But he was truly upset tonight despite the fact that I didn't have much trouble cleaning the paint off several nights ago. I tried to console him by saying that I could paint his face like a dragon for him. He replied, "no! I want the fairy lady to come do it. But not that one, a blue one, a dark blue one!" Hmmmm... anyone know any surefire ways to catch a blue-clad fairy to come paint a little boy's face?

Just sing a little tune.

Rhys has caught the music bug. He has been singing a lot lately. Anything from songs he heard on a show, songs I sing to him, one's that Brea sings, you name it! He especially loves singing them in bed when he should be napping in the afternoon or at night. He also likes to sing them really loudly!
I've thought to and tried to record him but he always seems to hear me by his door and he'll inevitably call out. It's super adorable though. His current favourites are "ABC", "Petit Poisson", and "The More We Get Together".

I love his version of the songs though:
Imagine his sweet little voice...
"The more we get together, together, together, together, together (he really likes the together part)...
'cause my friends are MY friends and your friends are YOUR friends."

Oh our dear Brea!

Some wonderful tidbits of words from our little girl. Too good to resist sharing.

I was away from home until late this past week with work so I didn't have a chance to see the kids until the next morning. I asked how the night went with Daddy taking care of them. It was a bath night and I know that Craig bought things to make a nice dinner so it was pretty full. So I was wondering if things went smoothly and that he managed alright and a little bit, I guess, to see if I was missed.

Brea looks at me and says in quite the tone: "Oh Mom, he's a big boy!"

Craig was very happy to have had that vote of confidence.

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The kids are getting sniffly again. I hate this season. But with the sniffles comes the difficult sleeping due to stuffy noses. Last night Brea awoke several times needing to blow her nose and just to get some comfort. By the time we woke for the third time, I had already bunkered down with Rhys and Craig had moved downstairs (Rhys is a bit of a flailer). I was tired and had given up on trying to get them to stay in their beds but there was no way it would work to have both kids with me. I suggested that she tried downstairs with Daddy.

She gave me an anguished look and said in a most pitiful little voice: "I can't sleep with Daddy! I'm more of a snuggler and my Daddy isn't!"

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas All!

Wishing you and yours the most jolly of holidays and the very best in 2013!

xoxo