Bring on summer!

ahhh...remember that feeling of the beginning of summer when the possibilites appear endless and you dream of beaches, icecream, bonfires, camping and so much more; I sure do! I am determined to provide a life that my children will look back over with fond memories of time spent together having a great time. We have been talking about upcoming plans for camping trips and are looking forward to many outdoor activities and fun throughout the summer. So bring on the summer and here's to good weather and great times!
Curiousity...

 Ahhh....!

 My beautiful kids!

We asked Kaiden what he wanted to do this year for a sport for the summer and he chose t-ball so we signed him up :) He started last week and did great!

This past weekend was Father's day so we decided to do a project for Geoff. With Grandma's help we did a little photo shoot with the kiddies and a special message on their feet:

We then did another little photo shoot at home and put together a framed collage, here are some photos from our project:

Here is the final project

A day fit for a Princess

Pretty much from the moment Avarie was born my mother wanted to have a tea party for princesses. We decided to wait until after the birthday parties and take a day some weekend to invite some little girls over to drink some tea and dress up in a princess dress. We had some beautiful little ones come by and had a great time. Daddy and Kaiden were excited to get out to see a 3D movie and really had fun! Here are some photos of our day

My little man

Happy Birthday Kaiden

To The boy who made me a mom,

5 years ago today I gave birth to my heart who would forever walk around outside of my body in the form of my beautiful boy. My dream as a child was to grow up to become a mom. From the moment I dressed up my dolls and cradled them in my arms, I longed to someday be called "mom". On this date 5 years ago you made that wish come true. The past five years have tested me, taught me, strengthened me and amazed me in so many ways. It is an incredible gift to be given the chance to view the world through the eyes of a child and being a mom is that opportunity. I hope that daddy and I are teaching you what it is to love with all of your heart and love without judgement and accept all the differences in the world. We hope that you will grow to be independent and strong but will always need us in your life and will always want us in your life. My wish for you is that you will cherish your childhood memories and will go on to have children of your own and will pass along your wonderful compassion and big beautiful heart. I hope your 5th birthday party was everything you wanted and that you will look back with happiness and joy. Although I tried to make a deal with you to stay 5 forever I know that you will grow up and someday I will look back on how much fun we had and how much excitement and joy you experienced on this day. I love you to the moon and back, Happy 5th birthday..
Love mom

The Birthday Boy

 The Cake!

 Cupcakes

 Spare Tire donuts

 Monster Truck set up!

 Loot bags

 Decor

 License plate place settings

 The birthday boy shirt

 Monster truck arena with cookie crub "dirt" and licorice "tires"

April showers bring may flowers

May is a busy busy month for us with some tough moments but also some wonderful ones as well. I have been busy planning my boy's 5th birthday party and cannot wait to celebrate with him.
Yesterday was my Nan's birthday. It is a hard day as I long so much to call her up to wish her happy birthday and to take her for ice cream to celebrate. Grief is a funny thing, it has no timeline and somedays the ache remains fresh and raw and somedays we can smile and remember and feel our loved ones so close. We took Avarie for her first ice cream cone yesterday which was a perfect day and a perfect way to honour my nan on her birthday. She loved ice cream and would often suggest it instead of a meal! I miss her so much it hurts but I know that she is with us and shows us in many different ways.

Bitter sweet

I have been struggling to admit that my baby girl is no longer an infant and has grown into an adorable toddler. I was holding onto baby moments and cherishing each lasting "baby" area. As most of my friends and family know I was so sad about nursing coming to an end so I held on and enjoying staring at my sweet princess as she filled up from momma. We had been introducing whole milk as she neared her first birthday and when I returned to work we weaned down to three feedings which she quickly weaned to two. Last week she was only nursing before bed and then two nights went to sleep without and just like that we were all finished. I am so proud of both of us to have nursed for this long as we struggled so much attempting to nurse Kaiden. It will always be a time I treasure so much.
My girl is growing so quickly we couldn't be more proud; she has been walking so much! It is adorable to watch her learning to move faster and maintain her balance.
Our boy is also growing so fast and we are busy working on his 5th birthday party! It is so amazing to have watched him blossom from such a tiny newborn to our big independent boy! He has chosen a monster truck theme so we are working on cake design and decorations. Kaiden also has his graduation from preschool coming up! Believe it or not he will be preparing to head to Kindergarten this fall :O

Here comes Peter Cottontail...

We started the Easter celebration with a dinner with my parents, siblings and nephews. The kids had a great time, here are some photos from our dinner:

Then that evening we held a glow in the dark easter egg hunt with some of our neighbours. Shout out to Pinterest for the idea! Here are some photos of our glowing eggs (using glow sticks) and the boys and Avarie hunting for them:

Peter cottontail hopped his way into our home last night and left some goodies for the kids :) He first left some paw prints leading into our house

He left a trail of eggs out of each of the kid's bedrooms (Kaiden was a little excited!)

The bunny was sure to include a toy for the doggy as well

The kid's did a wonderful job collecting all of the eggs (and sampling as well!)

More photos to come of our dinner with Geoff's side tonight :)