Not Your Typical Saturday Date Night

Last night Clara had an adventure at the hospital.  Here's what happened...

Clara's story:  I was walking from the couches to the kitchen.  I was looking at the chair by the computer, and I tried to walk through it, but it touched my head and I started bleeding.  

Our story:  Clara walked into a chair. 

Her gash was small, but fairly deep.  Of course it was Saturday night at bedtime, so we couldn't take her into our family doctor.  We decided to head to Emergency.  

In the waiting room:

Ready to see the doctor:

A popsicle for being such a brave girl while they glued her head back together and sealed it up with some paper stitches:

Clara was quite cheerful throughout the night.  We think she was enjoying staying up later, having some time with Mom, Dad and Clayton all to herself, getting lots of attention from nurses, staff, and strangers, and getting to play on the iPad while waiting for the doctor.  There were also some pictures, videos, stickers and a popsicle.  Pretty much a super fun night for any four year old. 

Oh, and some Red Lobster afterwards.  That was fun too.  We didn't get home until almost midnight.  Thank goodness for daylight savings this weekend.  

Back to School 2012 (Part 2)

Today we woke up to a ton of fog, so the kids had a 2 hour bus delay.

That left us lots of time for longer baths, and a big hot breakfast before heading off to the bus.  

I took about 10 shots, but still couldn't get one with everyone's eyes open at the same time. 

Individual shots again on day two... why not?

  

One of Clayton in the stroller... just to prove that he was there. 

Throwing around the football while waiting for the bus.

Memorable moments of the morning:

On the walk to the bus when Clara realized - with great disappointment - that Samantha, Brett, Jesse & Nathan weren't actually going to be in her class. 

Jesse saying to me: Mom, I think Clara is going to spend a lot of time in the principal's office this year... for yelling. 

The house seemed terribly quiet all day.  But was wonderful to have lots of one-on-one time with Clayton.  Scott commented that it was so nice to let Clayton play on the floor on a blanket without worrying about him getting smothered or trampled to death. 

Back to School 2012 (Part 1)

Hard to believe it's that time of year already.  This summer went by surprisingly fast.  

I was so sad to see my three oldest kids leave for school today.  I'm going to miss them!  

Samantha is going into Grade 7.  Grade SEVEN!  I remember my first day of Grade 7... it wasn't that long ago.  

Brett is going into Grade 5.  Scary.  

And Jesse, Grade 4.  I have no words.  Just one question.  How can this be possible?  

At least it was only three of them that left today and not all five at once.  That would have been too much.  

Last night it hit me as the kids were packing lunches.  Clara, never one to be left out, grabbed her new lunch bag and starting filling it with food.  I had to walk away until I could blink back the tears.  

She will start Junior Kindergarten tomorrow.  

Nathan will be starting Senior Kindergarten, and his first year of French Immersion.   

At least they are only gone every other day.  Two days a week, sometimes three.  But tomorrow morning I will be dying inside as my little Clara gets onto that big yellow bus.  

And I will head home with my box of Kleenex, hugging Clayton, and wondering why motherhood has to be so heart-wrenching.  

Summer Is Here

It's the last week of school, the last weekend of our 8-week event season, the last week of 3 on 3 hockey for the boys, last week of cubs and youth activities, and tonight is the last piano lesson until September.

It feels like things should be winding down a little bit, but really it's just on to the next set of activities... 

Soccer, the cottage, girls camp, weddings, family activities / visits / trips and... one more little thing, what was it again?  

Oh, right.  Six kids home all day with no school for 9 weeks.  

No big deal.  

I just moved bedtime up to 1:30 PM so I think we are all set.

I'm really going to miss my Mom when she disappears to Alberta for a month.  

Here are a few photos with some things we've been up to lately.

Clayton's first hockey game (Brett & JD's 3 on 3).  Clara was yelling so loud, cheering for her brothers, that the people in front of us decided to move seats.  Thank goodness they don't sell out at Novice Boys Rec. League hockey games.

JD had a school performance - he was one of three circus clowns.  Here he is afterwards showing off his brother to all his friends.  Poor little Clayton was so hot.  Their school doesn't have AC (crazy!) and this day it was nearly 40 degrees out!  

The play was super cute... only I couldn't understand 99.9% of it because it was in French.  

Samantha's class performed Macbeth.  In English.  

I understood most of it.  Just not the lines that were in iambic pentameter.  

Samantha played the part of the doctor that pronounced Lady Macbeth dead.  

We planned to do outdoor cooking for our last day of Cubs.  We had prepped five different foods to cook - so the boys could earn their cooking badges.  

Approximately 1 hour before the activity, we started getting torrential downpours, thunder, and lighting.  So we moved the whole thing into the Church kitchen at the last minute.  It was a little chaotic, but the boys still had fun.  

Baked apples...  stuffed and ready for the oven. 

Saturday our kids had a total of 4 soccer games and one hockey game between them.  

Clara got sick last week with a terrible cough, stuffy nose, and slight fever.  

I wanted to feel bad for her, but I was too busy enjoying the peace and quiet while she was sleeping 18 hours a day.  

This little snowman attached to a square of soft and silky blanket fabric was Nathan's favourite when he was a baby.  About 4 months ago he decided he would give it to the new baby when he was born.  So whenever he sees Clayton sleeping he insists on making sure he has his snuggle toy.  

And don't forget the neck support cushion stuck on his head like a hat.  

Clayton had to get used to his carseat really quickly and has already spent a lot of time in it going from one activity to the next.  

Don't worry, we have Clara to make sure he does't get bored... 

My sweet boys.  

Looking forward to a fun and busy summer! 

Clara Turns Three

Clara was so excited for her birthday!

We went to church in the morning, and then we drove out of town for Scott's Grandmother's visitation and funeral.

We did get to enjoy some cupcakes in Nursery and again in the van later that night.

Scott decided to bring home an ice cream cake a few days later so that she could blow out her magic wand princess candles and open her cards and gifts.

Clara is such a joy to have in our family.

She loves to play dress up and play princesses.  She loves to sing and dance.  She loves to paint, colour, draw, and make crafts.

She adores her big sister Samantha.  One day during the first week of school, she saw Samantha come home after school.  She ran over to her and said, "Samantha!  You came back!  I'm so proud of you!".

She loves going to Nursery.

She loves her family, siblings, grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins.

She loves her special purple blanket.  She loves sucking her two fingers and snuggling her blanket at bedtime.

She likes to pretend to be a puppy, and will crawl around the house barking.  We try to avoid picking her up, as that will likely result in a slobbery "puppy kiss" on the cheek.

Clara will make friends with anyone who gives her attention, which is pretty much everyone she meets.

We love Clara so much and can't imagine life without her.