Summer 2016 has gotten off to a great start. We've been surrounded by family for much of the last month and we've had plenty to celebrate. Two weeks ago, my sister in law Sarah got married in Truro. It was a beautiful wedding and an especially fun reception. The cousins had a blast together literally tearing up the dance floor. There were times when I was in tears watching Odin shaking his little booty to the live band. Between songs, he would run to the front of the dance floor demanding another song by saying and signing 'more'! Caleb was determined to stay up until midnight, but at 11 pm after hours of dancing and eating cake, he was looking a little worse for wear. We stepped in saying it was time for bed, but we agreed to let him cuddle in bed and watch a show until midnight. Sure enough, he made it and when I showed him the clock at 12:01, he immediately fell asleep. The next morning he ran to see Greg and said guess how late I stayed up? I was awake until Sunday!
The boys and the stunning bride
I love this hilarious photo of the kids - Tanya was a little put out that she didn't get to hold Odin!
My boys all dressed up and looking very handsome. Two year olds in suits just kill me!
Old Hollywood themed selfie station! This was Cale's favourite part of the wedding (besides the dancing and cake)
Grammie Maureen getting into character!!
Grandparent love
Following the wedding, we had a wonderful visit from our 'American' cousins, Malcolm and Lauren who live in New Hampshire. They came to stay in our new house for a few days and tour around Annapolis Royal. We don't get to see them enough, so the quality time was great. Unfortunately both Alan and Caleb were away during the visit (Alan recording a record in Halifax and Caleb spent a week in Fredericton), but Odin and I sure enjoyed the visit.
Hike to DeLap's Cove. Malcolm looks super pumped in this photo. He was proud when he saw it!
Odin and I then headed to Fredericton to celebrate Canada Day. We hopped off the ferry in Saint John just in time to catch the last few songs of a David Myles concert on the boardwalk. Odie loved seeing his dad on stage and cheered 'Yay, dada!' throughout the show! We headed to Freddy to meet up with all of my mom's family. I don't know the last time we were all together, so it was great to catch up and get to know each other again. On Canada Day evening everyone from the Jeffries/Sprague/Urquhart crew headed to Officer's Square for a huge outdoor David Myles concert.
Watching dada play in Saint John!
Having a blast at the Fredericton Canada Day concert
Urquhart family reunion
Phew! We had so much action-packed fun that I had to take this week off on vacation just to recover. It has been wonderful to regroup and spend a week with just the 4 of us. We've been staying close to home beachcombing, strawberry picking, and crossing tons of 'homeowner things' off our our to-do list. It's been wonderful and I can't wait to see what the rest of the summer brings.
This closet is just my size, and I'm going in. See ya, mom!
We've done it! We are in! The moving is done, the paperwork is complete, the unpacking is 95% complete and the house already feels 100% like our own home.... and it feels sooo good. We are discovering new and wonderful little things about our home and yard everyday. The kids love the many nooks, cubby holes and secret hiding spots. I love all the storage, shelving and space to spread out. Finally all the little things we've been collecting over the years have a permanent place and we have plenty of room to spare (and lots of room for visitors!). Alan and I stayed up until 2:30 am on the first night of us moving in because we were having so much fun putting things away and starting the make the space our own. Unfortunately, Alan then had to leave town for a week, so he has yet to see a lot of the progress than has been made, but it will be a great reunion for us all this weekend. Hope he likes how I've decorated!
Now it is time for us to relax, celebrate and enjoy summer in our great space. Caleb has requested a week-long move-in party once Alan is home, complete with a trophy for the 'winner' at the end of the week. Not quite sure what Caleb has in mind, but I'm sure it will be great, and a week-long party seems appropriate for all the moving we have done!
I've been too busy to take many photos, but here are a few I managed to get from the last week.
Adding our names to the house's history - a growth chart in the carriage house with names dating back to 1963!
Kitchen floor cuddles while waiting for mom to serve breakfast
Caleb being the wonderful big brother he is!
During a shopping trip to the big city of Digby, Caleb had one dollar with him that he wanted to use to buy Odin a ride on this bike. What a guy.
I haven't had much time to write lately because we've been consumed with preparations and paperwork for our big move. Tomorrow we will own and LIVE IN our very own home. We have packed and moved so many times, it is unbelievable, but knowing this is our last move for a long time makes the hard work much all worthwhile. It's amazing to think back on the 14 years that Alan and I have been together and all the places we have lived - 3 countries, 4 provinces and at least 18 places! Tents in Fundy Park and a home in PEI while I worked on research projects and Alan faithfully visited each weekend, a cabin in Kelowna, B.C while we were picking fruit for a summer, apartments in Fredericton, a hut in Madagascar, apartment in Shelburne, beautiful homes in Duncan's Cove and Purcell's Cove, a beachfront hotel in Jamaica, a very short stint in our Bayside home, 3 different places in Annapolis Royal, numerous homes during our Fredericton mat leave year...and now finally a place to plant our roots for AT LEAST 2 years! I promise.
Odie has already claimed his new favourite window seat where he can happily watch trucks and cars go by for hours!
And a couple other cute pics:
Odin got right down on his belly to 'help' dad fix Grammie's dishwasher
We have had a very busy May so far. Too much to write about in one blog post, but I wanted to share some photos and give a little update from the Sprague/Jeffries clan.
We have been taking full advantage of our Spring weekends lately. It's been so nice to have some sunshine and to have Alan home for such a long stretch. May kicked off with us attending our first ever May Day party hosted by a friend in town. It was so nice to socialize with friends, share some good food and see so many kids running around catching tadpoles and scooping up frog eggs. The highlight was the much anticipated pole dance - which included a procession of kids being ushered to the homemade poles by a fiddle-playing father! Such a nice tradition to start.
We have also been exploring our Valley surroundings - a trip to the Oaklawn Farm Zoo, a Mother's Day hike along waterfalls in Keji National Park, and more time beachcombing with the kids. Caleb asked if I would share my beach glass and pottery collection with him, so I think he's officially hooked!
Odin's daycare held a Mother's Day lunch and invited all mom's to attend a special celebration on Friday. I felt terrible when I realized that I would be out of town for meetings that day. I could just see how disappointed Odie would be when he realized that all the other mom's were arriving except his. Thankfully, my wonderful hubby stepped in to save the day and he offered to attend the lunch on my behalf. I called Alan later in the afternoon to check in and he reported that the lunch was great and he was proudly wearing a 'Super Mom' medal as we spoke!
And to top it all off, we bought a house! Much more to come on that front, but for now we are just beginning to process the fact that after all these years we will finally have a home to call our own. We are officially planting our roots and it feels so, so good. Closing date May 31st, so packing/moving fun begins soon. At least we know we won't be doing this again for a LONG time. Eeeekkk!!!
Odin loved the animals, especially the big cats and the monkeys at the zoo. This was a big and mind blowing day for him!
I can never resist the cut-out photo op!
Our little animal lover meeting a friend during a family walk. Caleb is already concerned that Odie is going to want lots of pets and wild animals in our home when he grows up. After I read Caleb 'Owls in the Family', he wanted to be reassured that we would never have more than two pets, and no snakes, gophers or spiders! He loved the book though!
Snack break on the Red Chairs in Keji
Mother's Day beach finds. I love this teeny, tiny whole glass bottle. Maybe it once held perfume?
We've also very recently experienced some loss in our family. Alan's grandmother Kathleen McEachern passed away peacefully yesterday. She was a wonderful lady who whole-heartedly welcomed me into the family from day one. We will certainly miss her. I look forward to hearing stories from her 91 years when we get together with family to celebrate her life later this week.
Warm weather, sunshine, picnics, beach walks, hikes, soccer games and ice cream! I'm so excited to say that we can finally put the cold, short days of winter behind us and start going outside more and exploring the world once again. We go outside for a family walk after supper - in the daylight! Ahhh, it feels so good.
I loved Caleb's second Spring. We were still living in Duncan's Cove and I clearly remember taking him outdoors just to let him touch the budding tree branches, throw rocks in puddles and hopefully see some birds, butterflies and caterpillars. It is so wonderful to watch this whole new world open up to Odin.
Matching hats at the beach! We had the place to ourselves for most of the afternoon. It was a wonderful chance for some low-tide beachcombing.
Odie with his collection of shells and round rocks (aka 'Ballls!). He only face-planted in the wet mud once, but he was determined not to let it get him down. I brushed him off and asked if he wanted to go back to the car and go home. He looked at me, shocked, and gave me his best long and drawn out 'Nooooooooo!!'
Rubber boots and rolling waves
Some of our best finds of the day. Some great textured glass (including a large piece of a bottle that had the word 'Evangeline' on it), some nice beach pottery pieces and our prize winner of the day - my first ever beach marble. Caleb was soooo impressed with the marble find, and we spent hours talking and wondering about where these items may have come from and how long they had been rolling around on the bottom of the sea. Odin was just happy that we finally found a real ball!
We have also discovered a few new local hangouts, like Valleyview Provincial Park which is only 20 minutes away. The views were amazing, and we hope to take Sunny there this summer (if the old gal will make it up the hill!).
I pulled a fast one on Caleb this year for April Fools' Day. I put his cereal in the freezer for a frozen breakfast surprise. He LOVED it. He then completely tricked me by pretending to call my parents to tell them about the joke. I came running out of the kitchen to see him with the phone to his ear saying 'Oh Greg, you won't believe what mom did...'. I thought he had woken them up at 7 am, so I wasn't really impressed, but his immediate smile told me I had been fooled!
April got off to a great start. Alan was home, we had some nice weather, the crocuses were blooming, I've been working on some really interesting projects at work....Things were going great. And then the dreaded flu virus hit - and Odin was the one on the receiving end of it. He had every flu and cold symptom you can name, so we kept him home for a few days and I thought he was recovering until Saturday night came around. It was very likely the worst night of parenting I've had to date. From 7 pm until 5 am Odie alternated from crying to nursing to half sleeping in 20 minute intervals. I didn't sleep for more than 5 minutes all night long. Finally at 5 am, he fell soundly asleep and didn't wake until 8. When he finally did come around he seemed totally normal - he awoke with a smile and a happy 'hi!'. I was a bit dumbfounded - did he actually have no memory of what we had just gone through? He wanted to eat breakfast - his first good meal in several days. Once I sat down beside him, I saw the dried ooze down the side of his face and I finally understood what had gone on. His eardrum had ruptured in the night. He was in very obvious pain until the rupture, which must have happened right around 5 am when he finally felt some relief and was able to sleep. Poor, poor little fella. He is now on antibiotics and is truly back to his usual happy squealing little self. It was quite an ordeal, and I'm very thankful to have it behind us.
Caleb has been amazing through Odie's illness. Alan was away through the worst of it, so unfortunately Caleb was left to occupy himself a lot over the past few days. I was feeling high levels of parental guilt at times, but my wonderful and amazingly mature 6 year old handled it like a champ. He didn't complain or ask for anything at all. He was genuinely concerned about his brother and offered to help out anyway he could. He even told me that he would put himself to sleep and I didn't even need to read him books on the night when Odie was in especially bad shape. When we finally went to the doctor after the eardrum had ruptured, Caleb (on his own accord) packed a book bag full of toys to keep Odin busy. I was very appreciative and very impressed. I later told him how proud I was of him for being able to put other people's feelings ahead of his own, and I gifted him with a 20$ bill to take to the school book fair and spend however he chose (he bought a Spy Kit, which is pretty awesome if I do say so myself!). I feel so lucky to be the mother of such wonderful little boys. They fill my heart with love, joy and gratefulness everyday, even on the hardest and most exhausting days.
They also can make me laugh like no other. Caleb had an amazing quote this week after I had praised him for being so darned great. He said "Mom, I just love being your side dish." He meant sidekick. I burst out laughing and hugged him tight. My trusty side dish. So grown up but still such a little boy. It's a wonderful stage in our lives and I wouldn't change a thing.
We've had a busy last few weeks and it's been absolutely splendid! My parents came to visit with Aly and Ava for a few days before taking Caleb back to Fredericton to spend his March Break. This was a big trip for him, and he was very, very excited and had a wonderful time on his own. Alan's folks then brought Caleb back over on the ferry at the end of the week, and Caleb's cousin Tanya came along for the adventure. So we have had a ton of family time and we all loved it, especially Odie! He woke up each morning wondering who would be downstairs for him to play with. He certainly missed Caleb on the days he was gone, but I really enjoyed having some alone time with my 'baby'. And now it we are resting up after all the fun and relaxing close to home over the Easter long weekend. Alan will even be home to join us tomorrow and we can finally all spend a day off together on Monday. Let's hear it for family time!
We took a day trip to Halifax and spent some time checking out the amazing new library! Aly and Cale shared a drink at the cafe on the top floor. Ava wasn't allowed to have a sip because she was car sick on the drive. Good times!
Odie. all alone for a week, passed much of his time playing his favourite game - guitar case car ramp.
Baby's got the blues - Odin insisted on bringing the harmonica on his wagon trip to the grocery store. Missing big brother for sure!
Caleb loved having a 'little sister' for a few days. We introducedTanya to life in the Valley by taking her to meet our friend's newly hatched chicks!
Caleb dueting with a chick
Grammie cuddles!
Paw Patrol with Grampie! Odin could hardly stand the suspense!
Grampie John is always gifting great books to his grandkids. Odin was so happy to have another lap to read on.
The boys got to see their dad preform with his band this weekend at at a Bluegrass Brunch in Berwick. They had their dancing shoes shined up and couldn't wait to hit the dance floor together.
Love letter that I found in Caleb's backpack! He still loves using our first names!
"Bruiser"...that was how our doctor referred to Odin during his 18 month check up yesterday! At 27 lbs, he is still in the 98th percentile for height and head size, so the doctor is predicting that we'll have a big boy on our hands.
Our little bruiser is doing wonderfully well at his new daycare. It is hard for me to believe that he can sit still during circle time, wait in line to wash his hands, sit on his own chair and eat his meals using utensils and nothing but regular cup. Each day we seem to move further and further from having a little baby in our life.
He's also developed into quite a little talker. The doctor said at this age he should have about 20 words, even if they are not perfectly pronounced. Odie has a ton of words, some of them very clear and some of them only a parent's loving ear could possibly understand! Nore means more, height means light, Caleb is still lovingly referred to as Caco, a horse is an indescribable sound that comes from deep in his throat and cheese is a similar sounding grunt. He is very consistent with these terms, so we seem to have no trouble understanding his needs (which do often seem to revolve around cheese!). I've posted a new video below showing off his newly expanded vocabulary. He still doesn't like to use the 'L' sound much, so we have been trying to over-emphasize it when talking to my parents on skype and saying the word 'Linda'. This has resulted in a new name for his grandmother - Lalala. Just watch and see!
Post-bath curls!!! Yay!
We are also experiencing the other 'joys' of toddlerhood - he loves to drop items just to see what sound they make and he will scream if something happens that he doesn't like (his sense of volume control has not yet been fine-tuned!). A great example of this is when he opened the cupboard doors a few days ago, grabbed a bag of sunflower seeds and proceeded to dump the entire contents onto the floor. After being mesmerized by just how far the mess had spread, he looked up at me innocently and said 'Uh oh.' (Caleb likes to remind him that 'uh oh' doesn't count if you did something on purpose). I quickly grabbed the broom and dustpan to begin cleaning up the mess, when Odin decided that actually, HE was going to be the one to clean it up. He grabbed the broom in one hand, the dustpan in the other, and proceeded to push the majority of the seeds under the stove and into other irretrievable places. I was at the end of my patience at this point, and took the broom back to just get the mess cleaned up, already. Well. Odin was dismayed and heartbroken. He burst into tears, became red in the face, and let out a terrible scream at the injustice I had just put upon him. After several deep breathes (on both of our behaves) we managed to get the floor cleaned up and everyone calmed down. I don't think Caleb ever really threw temper tantrums, but I have a funny feeling we may begin to experience some meltdowns with #2!
Later that night, Caleb had an adorable quote that I need to share. He said, 'Mom, isn't it funny how things can be both big and small. Like how Odin is so small but he takes up such a big space in our hearts'. So true.
I also wanted to share a couple of photos of some crafts Cale and I have been working on. These were inspired by a book given to Caleb on his birthday from John and Colleen. We love it!!
Acrobat Land - taking arts and crafts to a new level!
