AHHHH the joys of motherhood.....

the joy you feel as you snuggle in bed with your 5 year old and go over your day.

The kisses and hugs you get as she drifts off to sleep.

Watching your little girl (who's not so little sleeping like an angel beside you)

Ahhhh the wonders of being a mother.
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Then reality hits, your angel flails during the night, kicking you in legs , bum, does a 180 so that her feet are in you face.

She takes the blankets, or has to sleep ontop of the blankets which then won't let you pull them up.
She thens turns the 180 back and ends up punching you in the face.

But the most precious part is when you roll over to find out not only is her bum in your face, she has somehow managed to pee right on to your pillow.

Being a monther is so much fun.

Kids daycare pics June 2006 ....

To my daughter on her fifth Birthday

May 18, 2006

Scarlett,

Happy Fifth Birthday!

Last night I admit I got a bit teary eyed thinking about how you were turning 5. How can this be, just yesterday I was being told that you would be entering this world backwards. I swear it was only last week that you took your first steps, or maybe it was last month that I heard for the first time “I love you Mama”.

My beautiful girl, you make me smile every day. (You also make me mad and frustrated and angry) but boy can you make me smile.

I was just reading the letter I sent to you 4 years ago on your first birthday, how my favorite time of day was when we snuggled together in the morning. I am so thank-full that this is still our normal routine. I love waking up each morning to look into your eyes and hear you tell me you love me.

You have grown into a beautiful young girl, you are still very much your own person. You are opinionated, stubborn (boy are you stubborn), you are loving and caring, very protective of your brother. You still have no fear of anything, one of your friends moms asked if you would be capable of having a sleep over, I laughed at this question. You my daughter can go anywhere and do anything without looking back.

Each day I watch in amazement as you grow and mature. You started Kindergarten this year and I have loved watching you learn. Within two months you learned all your letters and numbers and moved on to reading. It is amazing to hear you reading to me, I could sit for hours ( and actually I do this a lot).

You are a very outgoing child, and have many friends. Lately your best friend is Katherine from next door, the two of you are joined at the hip. At least 4 or 5 times a week she is at our house or you are there for dinner. You both have a love of ponies and spend hours imaging yourselves riding through the forest.

Listening to the stories you create amazes me, your imagination is endless. For some reason you ask to talk about things every morning while I’m in the shower. “Mom, can we talk about drains” was the question today. Why do we have drains under the sink. Where does the water go. Why? You are forever searching for answers to many questions.

Your protectiveness of Kaleb makes my heart skip a beat sometimes. You won’t tolerate anyone picking on him or treating him badly (although you’ve been known to do it yourself) If I tell you you can stay up late, you ask about Kaleb. If I give you a treat when Kaleb isn’t around, you make sure I save him one. I truly hope that the two of you continue to grow up together and remain the best of friends. On weekends at the cottage you tend to sleep in the same bed, your father and I love to stand at the door and just stare at what beautiful children we have.

My sweet angel, my princess and my Scarlie bear and my chicita banana, all of the names express my love for you.

The past 5 years have been the most amazing journey, one that I never dreamed could be so much fun, I look forward at your future and wonder what you will become, I dream about you as you enter each new step in the road of life.

As always I love you, and will be here for you always

I love you

Mom

The Danger of Kindergarten.....

The pictures don't acutally do justice to the injury.

Scarlett was running in the playground when her and naother boy named Matthew banged into each other cheek to cheek.

He came away without a mark, but she looks like we've taken to beating her.

The school had me take her to the doctor and for an xray just in case. The doctor acutally called the school to verify my story.

What will they be when they grow up ....

Two kids sharing one room, dosen't really work.....

Kaleb has been temporarily moved into Scarlett's room while Martin paints his.

Up until this point Kaleb has had a child lock on his door because he won't stay in his room. So each night we give him a kiss and a hug, then we stand at the door, blow him a kiss, pretend to do a big hug and squish him, he does the same back. We save we love you, sweet dreams and see you in the morning.

But now that he's sharing a room with Scarlett, this is the routine. Good night Kaleb, sweet dreams, big hugs, see you in the morning, and don't get out of bed.

For about 5 minutes we hear nothing, then maybe a few jumps on the bed, a little laughter. Which is okay, kids will be kids , we can't expect them to just go sleep.

Around 9:00 I go upstairs to make sure they are asleep, and find them both sitting at the window sill talking to the neighbours. So I clsoe the windows and the blinds and read them the riot act.

11:00 I go to bed, I do my nightly ritual of kissing the kids, and of course I find the windows wide open, its 0 deg outside so their room is just a tad bit cold. They both are asleep.

Around 1:00 a.m. I am woken up by a strange noise, kind a static sound. I go to Scarlett's room no kids, I try the spare room nothing, I find them downstairs with the TV on and sound very low.

I stood in the hallway listening, they were giggling about how we were asleep and didn't know. It brought tears to my eyes they were so darn cute. I eneded up leaving them there, I figured one night wouldn't hurt them.

Around 2:30 I heard them come back upstairs and go to bed, my sweet little angels.

Scarlett's first orthodontist appointment.....

she does need to have some work done. Probably next year, once her adult teeth are in in the front.

He says he will put spacers in her teeth to help her upper jaw grow more. He says she's not that bad, her teeth do touch at the front but she naturally moves the top ones back since its more comfortable.

The price for this first round is about 1000.00 so not too bad yet. Of course he is also saying she will need braces at 10 or 11 at a cost of 6000-7000.

First swimming lesson of 2006.......

Both Scarlett and Kaleb had swimming the other night. Kaleb is in private lessons, which the teacher agreed was a good idea since he really wasn't listening, all he wanted to do was dive under the water.

Scarlett did really well, she can almost swim the required 10m on her front, on her back is a different story , she tends to sink like a stone. She also tried tredding water but that didn't go so well either, again she sank.

Both kids said they had fun and wanted to know when they go back again.

What do you do with snow.....

Skating is over for the year

Both kids had their last night of skating. Scarlett passed level one and will move to 1 hour lessons in September.

Kaleb's report card said that he is slowly getting better, and is almost skating now. He is so funny to watch, he can almost run on the ice but there is definetly no gliding going on, he has mastered the art of walking on ice.

Scarlett is getting faster each day, she is starting to do bunny hops, and twirls. She dosen't pay attention during the lesson just wants to skate around the rink. What a surprise her not listening.

Another milestone achieved........

Scarlett lost her first tooth today, (4yrs 10 months) the bottom middle left (Central Incisor). It was quite an exciting event.

Over two months ago we noticed one of her teeth was loose, she had been trying to get a watch off her wrist by biting it and jarred the tooth. So we wiggled and watched and nothing happened.

The tooth seemed to become stable again for another couple weeks, just wiggling a little bit.

This past week she has really been working at it, and tonight it was just hanging there. So I started playing a game with her, how far back can you push it, now how far forward. Martin being the dutiful father told her she should pull it out or he would tie a string around it. Then he comes back from the garage with pliers she was not impressed and pulled it out herself.

We put the tooth in a fairy box complete with pillow and mirror to check out the new space in her mouth.

She is now in bed happily waiting for the tooth fairy's arrival.

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The tooth fairy ended up leaving her $2.75, she was quite excited to have that much money. She took me out for breakfast the next day and bought muffins with one of her quarters. She was so proud to pay for it herself. The adult tooth has now started pushing througholing through and she checks every night for more loose teeth.

This is a picture of her talking to her Grandma, telling her the great news.

What can you say about a girl with an attitude!

Scarlett has perfected the art of eye rolling, sighing, and getting on your last nerve.

Each day you wonder which child will crawl out of bed. The happy girl who wants to come and snuggle for a moment and talk about the day ahead. Or the little demon girl, who will start the day with "I hate you" "I want a new family".

She wants to be a big girl, who can stay up late, she wants a TV in her room, and most especially wants to play Barbie.com 24 hours a day. When told no, she can't control her feelings and launches into a litany of I hate you's.

On the good days (which still outnumber the bad by far) she will come into my room around 6:00 and snuggle under the covers. She will kiss my face and wake me up. She doesn't like it if I get up right away, she wants mommy time. We lay in bed and discuss who her best friend is this week. (believe me it changes almost daily). We talk about our day, what were going to do.

She still loves her brother, and looks out for him but I can see the beginning stages of her wanting less to do with him. She has recently announced that she wants to bath alone. She doesn't want him to see her private parts and god forbid she see his.

March 9, 2006

Kaleb turns 3 today. Kind of mixed emotions for me. My baby is no longer a baby, he's a big boy. Yet he still has moments where he wants to snuggle in the rocking chair.

He was so excited this morning when Scarlett and I went in and sang him "happy Birthday". I get my Thomas cake now he said. He was quite upset to find out he had to wait until lunch at daycare.

His party is this weekend with his friends, he has Victoria, Jessica, Kate, Ty, Alexis and Luke, Jaidyn and Lukas from school coming to McDonalds. Tonight at the house we are having Grandma, Grandpa Tokarski and Andrea and Dana. Of course its a Thomas Cake again for the 2nd year in a row.

I think he will love the presents we got him, some more Duplo Thomas (what a shock I know) and a really cool trampoline.

Mom and Dad got him a new quilt and sheets for his bed and a couple Thomas Trains.

Scarlett picked out Annie and Clarabel for him, which he will love.

Kaleb at age three, is a very loving, energetic, non-stop boy. He is developing a bit of an attitude, telling me what to do. His favorite things to do are play with Thomas, his farm set, and watch his movies (Thomas, Letter Factory )

We still have no attempt at potty training, he shows no interest, and now won't even go on the toilet, were not to worried it will come with time.

His favorite sayings are " Do you want one of these" as he shakes his fist. Or he will say "Mom do you want a cookie, and when you say yes, he says well you can't" He also loves locking the van door just as I try to open it, and then has a huge smile and big eyes giggling about hwat he has done.

Every morning he gives me a big hug and says "Good morning hugs". At night he goes to bed so easily, he says, Goodnight, I love you, blows me a kiss, gives himself a big hug and we rarely here from him again". We do have to tell all the monsters and shadows in the room to get out and go away, I have to lift the blind and make sure nothing is behind it.

He loves to play the Letter Factory board game and knows almost half of the letters now. Were still working on colors but I think its stubborness that he won't tell me the colors rather than him not knowing it.

He has recently moved from the Sunbeams to Twiddlebugs at school. and is thriving being with the bid kids. Him and Scarlett now get to play together at daycare which is great.

He is so in love with his sister, wants to be with her and play with her. If I give him something to eat, he demands some for Scarlett, won't let me do something for him and not for her.

Christmas 2005....

What a wonderful holdiay this turned out to be. We had two weeks off this year.

Andrea, Damien, Kate and Ty came for Christmas Eve along with Grandma and Papa Tokarski. The kids had a great time playing together, Scarlett and Kate dreamed about what Santa was going to bring them.

I tried to keep with tradition and read Twas the Night Before Christmas but the kids were to wound up to listen. Grandma did manage to read Santa's Key and Scarlett was relieved to see that Santa did have a way in despite us having no chimney.

Martin as tradition dictates left the building of the toys to the last minute so we were up until 1 a.m. putting stuff together.

Christmas morning thekids were up bright and early, but they waited patiently for me to start the coffe and grab the video camera. Scarlett eyes were sparkling as she saw the doll house Santa got her, that is until both kids noticed the Thomas the Train Table.

Santa definetly did good with the trains, the kids barely left it alone to look at anything else.

The Tottenham Train.....

We had a lot of fun on the Tottenham Train this past weekend.

The kids were thrilled to go on a train ride, and as an added bonus they got to see Santa.

Halloween 2005 ....

Two pumpkins and a princess ....

Scarlett learns that she isn't an olympic skater.

Scarletts first time on skates was an amazing thing to watch. The teacher took her out on the ice, let go of her hand she took one step and fell down, the look on her face was priceless. "What happened?" I think she thought she would just glide like the big kids.

Within a couple minutes she had learned to stand up, and was starting to take a couple steps. She tried to help some of the other kids stand up. The teachers brought out some toys for them to go between and she did the whole circuit.

By the end of the class, she could probably have done a quarter of the rink before falling.

I think we might have found a sport she will really enjoy and have fun doing, she was so excited afterward and can't wait to do it again

Our July 2005 vacation.

What an amazing week. We spent 10 wonderful days up north at the cottage, plus one night trying camping without he kids for the first time.

We arrived Thursday night at the cottage, we have a major heat wave here right now, so the cottage was about 90 degrees, we opened the windows and put in the air conditioner. Which didn't really make a difference.

The kids wanted to go in the river for a swim , and I thought oh no here we go. Kaleb won't swim , he stands on the bottom step, kicks and plays on step. He wants someone to take him in, I was thinking about what my week would be standing in the river holding him.

Well he surprised me, he started swimming, in the deeper water not too far out, but far enough that I didn't have to be with him.

Of course this made for an amazing week for me, I sat on the dock and read a bunch of books while the kids swam. I felt for the first time in four years that I was on vacation. I could read a book without kids climbing all over me.

We also spent a day at the beach in Bobcaygeon, which the kids absolutely loved. They had a lot of fun with all the other kids there. It wasn't until we were getting ready to leave that another mother noticed a sign that said the beach was closed due to high bacteria levels. It was in such a horrible spot, you didn't see when you walked in the gate at the beach. Quite a few of the parents were going to complain, none of them had noticed it either.

I was a bit worried that one of the kids would come down with something, but neither of them did.

Martin built a new dock for us, one that we can actually take chairs down to, and easier steps to get in and out of the water.

The kids had there first experience at the rapids, Scarlett was begging to go back. She had a lot of fun picking up all the clam shells. they also like watching the river flowing over the rocks, the boat ride there was a bit long for them, next time we will put the boat in at the beach and go from there.

Laurie, Brett and Korissa cam up for two nights, they girls had so much fun together. Painting, singing and mostly singing. We were sad to see them go, it was weird to have to play with the kids again, they hadn't needed me for two days.

Mart and Brett went fishing, Martin caught a 6 pound muskie, he was quite happy.

ah camping, my passion. We took the kids for the first time camping, they were very good while we set the stuff up, we went to the beach and they swam for a couple hours. We had bought them new camping beds, Scarlett a barbie bed and Kaleb a hot wheels bed. Neither one of them liked to sleep on them, Scarlett ended up on the floor and Kaleb just cried most of the night. I can't say it was an enjoyable experience, it was so damn hot you could hardly breathe and not a whisper of a breeze either. We got up the next morning went for ride to cool down got some icecream, took the kids to the beach, Kaleb needed to nap and there was no way he could sleep in the tent so we went for another ride. We then decided that we might as well just pack up and go back to the cottage. Oh well we may try again later in the year, maybe first week of September.

The first soccer game of the year was hilarious, Scarlett and another boy got a break away and went running off down the field, they were so intent on the ball they didn't notice it leaving the field. They continued after it, down the length of the regulation field around the goal posts and back.

Both coaches were chasing them yelling at them to stop but they weren't listening. Most of the parents were almost in tears from laughing so hard.

Scarlett's first year of Soccer went okay. She wasn't that interested in playing, normally she would do the warm up and practice but was too tired by the end of the game.

The final two games were much better, she played most of the game, she had grasped the concept of the ball being out of bounds.

Scarlett made a new friend at soccer, Kate and she is now signed up for Soccer and Ballet with her.

Our office burned down on Jan 9th 2004 .....

What a shock for my dad as he was driving into work that day, he could see an orange glow in the sky. As he got closer he was thinking wow , wonder what that it.

Suddenly he realized it wasn't just close to our office it was our office.

This is what we ended up with for 6 months, before we found a new place to move to. Not a fun experience to go through, luckily for us all of the hard drives made it through the fire, and all of the data was recovered.