August

I can't believe September has arrived already and I'm posting this as I sit at home on my vacation day while Noah is napping and the two big boys are at school(!).

Here's my re-cap from August:

- August long weekend I took the Friday off work and we drove up to Temagami to my in-laws cottage with some friends and their two sons. The boys had a blast paddling around the bay on the paddle boat, going for rides on the sea-doo that was up there, and jumping off the tower that my father-in-law built on the dock when my husband was B's age.

- We spent some really hot weekends up at the trailer out on the lake most of the day doing water sports, sea-dooing, and swimming at the shallow sand bar and deep spots in our lake. We even had family up to visit one weekend which was fun. I'm feeling much more comfortable driving the boat now and ripping around on the waterskis.

- We visited my mom at her new house in Wasaga Beach (twice!) and the boys had a blast on the beach (especially Noah) and visiting the skate park with their scooters.

- A couple of weekends ago the weather was cooler (20 degrees!). The boys did some fishing but we didn't go out otherwise on the lake. We went swimming in the heated pool instead and I went into town to the amusement park for a couple of hours with the big boys and friends of ours and their kids. R hung back with Noah while he napped. We had lots of fun doing go karts,  batting cages, and a coaster which the 4 year olds couldn't get enough of but the 7 year olds were too scared to do. We also had some relaxing nights by the campfire. The boys don't usually stay up long enough to see the fire. Trailer days are long and busy so they are often more than ready to crash by the time we're done dinner. There's nothing better than sitting by the fire with a glass of wine and adult company once the boys are in bed.

July

Monthly posts seem to be about all I can handle right now.

We stopped breastfeeding. For the past few months, it was mostly just nursing at night. One night I decided I wouldn't go in and wake Noah. There was no transition. He wasn't fussy or upset. Nor has he given any indication he has wanted to nurse since. It is hard for me to believe that I'm officially done nursing for good. I'm so thankful I was able to nurse all three of my little guys with minimal difficulty and surprisingly no weaning transition issues with any. It feels weird but nice to have my body back to myself after nearly 5 years out of the last 7 and a half of either being pregnant or breastfeeding. Now a big focus for me is getting to a point where I feel healthy and strong again. Not only physically but emotionally too. Hormones can do crazy things and I'm only now feeling like I may be getting back to normal - whatever that is.

In July, Noah began to really talk. He says: love you, mama, dada, baba (bottle), nana (banana), dog, bye, hi, hot, more,  bus, and thank you. Oh.. and bum bum - one of the choice words his biggest brother has taught him which elicits all sorts of laughter to which he responds by, of course, saying bum bum again.

R went in for surgery and ended up having another follow up surgery later in the month. My sister in law offered to take B for a week at her place up north to help out. At 7, it was his first time away from us for more than a couple of days and he had so much fun with his two teenaged cousins that he didn't want to come home at the end of it all. Sleepover camp may be on the horizon for next summer for him. He thrives when he is kept busy and able to spend his days outside. The house was so quiet with just the two little boys and a recovering husband.

The big boys are enjoying spending most of their weekdays playing outside with neighbourhood friends and the weekends up at the lake with family, friends, and our trailer neighbours who have quickly become like a second family to us. I went waterskiing for the first time in nearly a decade and got up on my first try. I definitely surprised myself and the boys. I also got the itch and have been out waterskiing and trying to learn how to wakeboard every weekend since. It is so fun! More than ever I've been looking forward to our weekends on the lake.

Love these shots my sister-in-law took of B during his week away

June

A little late but...

June was:

Enjoying great weather at the trailer. My favourite Friday night lately is dining al fresco, going for a boat ride, followed by tucking the boys into bed and relaxing in front of a campfire with a glass of wine.

Fishing, boating, tubing, biking.

Saying final goodbyes to a loved one as we buried my grandfather who passed away in January. Watching the boys try to process and understand.

Participating in a walk for Alzheimers in support of my mother-in-law.

Visiting Niagara Falls and watching the boys marvel at the sight.

Going for a sail on a friend's sailboat.

Cheering our sweetest four year old on as he plays soccer for the first time.

Finishing off Grade 1 with good marks and an achievement award for effort!

Celebrating one year of being at my new job and working on achieving another milestone toward getting my professional certification.

Trying to manage stress the best I can.

So long sweet summer

The view from our hammock at the trailer. Taken a few weekends ago. No filter. 

 While it looks like we might get in one last weekend of decent weather at the trailer, Fall is definitely here in Ontario and we've had our heat on a couple of nights already. I can't help but think of how different next summer will be with Noah toddling about. I'm sad to say I didn't make it out in the canoe at all this year. This summer was all about muddling through with a newborn and a new job. I'm optimistic about what the Fall will bring for us. Fall always feels like a new beginning for me even though I'm not returning to school so it seems like a fitting time to check back in with my 2014 goals:

- I will find secure an meaningful employment. I am loving my job! Every day I feel challenged in a positive way. I've met so many wonderful people and can actually say I'd consider some of them as friends. I enjoy morning and afternoon coffee breaks with my coworkers. Many of them have kids around the same age or a little bit older so it is nice to hear their experiences and how they manage work/life balance. 

- I will continue to pay off debt (at least $10,000) this year while at the same time taking a family vacation. Womp. Womp. Womp. If you've been reading my posts, you'll have noticed that I haven't been blogging monthly finance updates. Truth is, we've just been maintaining our debt payments and haven't been allocating anything extra really to debt repayment. Amid all the chaos of transition to our family of 5 and new job, something had to give. Unfortunately it was this. We did enjoy lots of family time together this summer at the trailer and are still hoping to plan a weekend getaway to Niagara Falls and Great Wolf Lodge this Fall. We're still plugging away at the debt albeit slowly. But I'm mostly happy that we didn't have to take on any additional debt this year. 

- I will make our house a home. Over the summer I was able to tackle a couple of little painting projects around the house and this past weekend R fixed up our fence in a few places where the boards had broken or come loose. The baby gear is starting to make its way out of our house and I've been trying to do some much overdue purging which in itself will make our house feel more like a home since we're working toward only having things that we use and/or make us happy. Fall and Winter seem like a good time to make some serious progress in this area.

- I will make an effort to be healthy. I'm really excited about this goal because for the first time in 10+ years, I'll be doing an organized sport! When I was younger, I figure skated and also skated on a synchronized skating team for many years. I've signed up to skate on an adult synchronized skating team this winter. I'm looking forward to getting back on the ice. Otherwise, I'm still nursing and back in nearly all of my pre-pregnancy wardrobe. I'm going to try to get back to going to bed again around the same time as Noah. I've been staying up late many nights and have been feeling it through sickness and exhaustion. I need to make self care more of a priority. 

- I will make an effort to focus more on extended family. 

This one is tough. Throughout the year I wondered more about why I decided upon this particular goal. I think it was mostly out of an idealization of family. I think I'd like it to be instead "make an effort to focus more on important relationships and the people that matter". We have some friends that are like gold and some family members that could care less about how we're doing and vice versa. It can be so draining to focus time and energy on relationships that just aren't there. I want to surround our family with people who we care about and who care about us. These are the relationships I want to invest in. 

Summer Week Days

Summer is in full swing here. I'm sad I don't get to spend it all with my guys but happy to report things are going really well at home during the week and I have been enjoying seeing them at lunchtime.

I was worried about them getting bored quickly and having to plan a lot of activities and outings but so far they haven't grown tired of sticking close to home.

B goes to summer camp with the neighbourhood kids for half the day close by. The rest of the day is spent mostly playing outside with many of the same kids. The kids range from toddlers to 12 year olds and they all play wonderfully together. Older ones helping the younger ones or just playing nicely alongside. Nicky tries his best to keep up with the big kids and doesn't get too discouraged when he can't always tag along. They'll ride bikes, collect bugs and frogs, play at the playground, or play in the driveways or someone's backyard. So much like my own childhood but slightly more supervised. I love that there are so many kids in our neighbourhood. My sister spends most of the day keeping watch from the porch with Noah. He'll sleep often in a rocker outside or in his playpen just inside the window where she can keep an eye and ear out for him while still letting the big boys play outside.

Otherwise, they do watch some TV, jump on the trampoline, swim in the kiddie pool in our backyard and do arts and crafts to their hearts content. And when they get bored of an activity inside, 9 times out of 10, that same activity can be brought outside and there is instantly renewed interest!

Anticipating...

With a few teasers of Spring this week - weather above freezing -  the countdown is officially on in our house until we can go back to weekending in cottage country like a number of other Ontarians.

The boys have been talking non-stop about the trailer over the past couple of weeks. As much as I've been zeroing in on all the things I'd like to change about our house over the last few weeks, hearing the boys chat excitedly about how much fun they had last summer and making plans for all the things they want to do, makes me realize that they don't at all care about the aesthetics of our house or having new stuff. Even at home, they are perfectly content to play in the backyard a couple hours/day. I worried originally about the cost of having a second seasonal "home", that it would take away money from other things like fancier vacations, nicer vehicles, eating out, nicer furniture and stuff, but if we asked the boys, they'd choose the trailer 100x over. I anticipate this might change once they get older and want to be around in the summer to hang out with friends.

In the Winter, weekends are centred around cleaning and organizing in preparation for going back to work and school on Monday. Lessons were also shifted to Saturdays or Sundays from weeknights because we found this worked better for us. Prioritizing family or relaxation time doesn't happen as much as it should. Summer weekends are entirely the opposite. Family time and relaxation is the focus. Having less than 400 square feet of indoor space makes cleaning at the trailer a quick 20 minute task before we go home rather than the focus of the weekend. Even cleaning at home isn't such a gargantuan task since less time is spent here.

8 Weeks.

My favourite parts of this summer

At the in-laws cottage in Temagami, Ontario

Summer is rapidly coming to an end so I thought I’d post the highlights of our summer in no particular order:

Purchasing a little piece of heaven up north and being lucky enough to spend nearly all our weekends this summer up there

A big milestone for the 5 year old - Learning to swim in the deep end of the pool with no life jacket or floatation device

Weekend morning canoe rides on the lake and dreaming about living on the lake full-time

Mid-week trip up north with my best friend while she was back from Edmonton and laughing until my stomach hurt

Monday library date nights with my biggest guy

Spending a somewhat surprisingly relaxing long weekend at my in-laws cottage – both boys slept like a charm and were easily entertained all day long

Seeing the littlest beam at the sight of any boat or boat ride

Getting together with friends whether it was hosting dinners, quick coffees, or having visitors up north, friends were never far away this summer

Attending the beautiful wedding of two friends and celebrating and catching up with some old university friends

Having a ton of interesting projects on the go at work and watching the pieces fall into place with my career (still no permanent job yet but working on that!)

At the beginning of the year I had really hoped to take a one-week vacation and spend some much needed family time. We didn’t take that week off this summer but we spent so much more time together, uninterrupted family time, just us - up north on the weekends. We are really so blessed to live in such a beautiful country and province with opportunities for cultural and outdoor experiences at our fingertips that we often take for granted.  A friend, Sarah, recently posted on her 10 year anniversary trip to Niagara Falls . Not Europe but amazing nevertheless and only 2 hours away. Our own backyard has so much to offer.   

Summer relaxing

I've been a little bit of an infrequent blogger this summer. We've been spending nearly all of our weekends lakeside. Last weekend we were up at my in-law's cottage and we happened upon a well used hammock they had lying around. We brought it back with us for our own summer place. This was the first weekend we put it up and it was used constantly. Yes, there was ample arguing over turns, who is sitting on top of who, etc. but the boys and their friends had such good fun on the hammock all weekend.

Summer Nights

Every now and then DH and I unknowingly put the boys to bed quite early. Natural rhythm just seems to takeover sometimes. Aside from work and scheduled commitments, I wonder why we put so much emphasis on letting time dictate when we eat, sleep, etc.

Shortly after 6PM (all was quiet, pie was eaten, and movies were watched)

End of July already!

Wow summer is going by at lightening speed. Maybe it is because I have been busy working, visiting with family and friends and spending quality time with my fabulous house of boys, but we've sure been having fun.

Remember awhile back I had said that I had given up my daily highlights journal. Turns out I didn't. There was just a month or so there where I was incredibly out of routine with no regular classes or job. I usually fill out my daily highlights journal when I am commuting to school or work (by public transit). It is the perfect time to think and reflect.

So July... here were the things that made me happiest:

Nurturing friendships - Visited with three of my very best girlfriends from all stages of life. The first - a lifelong friend - our parents met in prenatal class and every time we get together it is like we've never been apart. The second, a friend from my teenage/mommy years, I've shared some of the best and toughest times of my life with this lady. The third, a friend I met in my first year of university and my roommate thereafter until B was born. We also entertained our wonderful couple friends who recently got back together after a split. It was so nice to see them back together.

Spending time with family - DH's family got together the other weekend to see his niece off (she left for Australia for a 5 month university exchange) it was nice to see the whole family and both boys had a blast in my SIL's pool all afternoon. My brother who we don't get to see too often also happened to be passing through and stopped in for an impromptu visit with us and the boys one night. I also went to a bridal shower for a very close family friend's bride-to-be.

Spending time as a family - We had a really great time doing family outings this month. We all went to watch one of B's t-ball games and had a blast. B and I also went to a concert in Toronto together just the two of us.  Finally, we took a leap and decided to go on a 24-hour camping trip, with 4 hours of driving on either end, to Sauble Beach. We are so blessed to live so close (10 minutes) to Lake Ontario and (4 hours) Lake Huron - not to mention (1.5 hours) to Muskoka where we're even luckier to have family since DH grew up there.

Being challenged professionally - though I have been looking hard for a longer-term position as my contract is almost up, I have been thoroughly enjoying my job lately. This position has offered me so much opportunity for networking and professional growth. I will be sad to leave at the end of August but perhaps a little happy to end the commute. I've also made significant progress on my research proposal and finding a supervisor for my major research. I'll be done my Masters by the Spring. I can't believe I'm almost done.

Not quite the avid cyclist but he warmed up

Nothing like fresh blueberry pie.. even this picky eater couldn't get enough

Wind turbines as far as the eye can see on our drive up the Bruce Peninsula

This mama and son came up on a flock of geese

Sandcastle building

Boogie boarding

Water baby

Bother's #1 Fan

Biking the Waterfront Trail

A camping we will go

Recently, I booked us in for two camping trips this Summer at nearby Ontario Parks – Presqu’ile and Sandbanks. We haven’t been to either before but heard good reviews of both from several friends. Last summer we never made it camping. I guess just something about being sleep deprived at home didn’t make me jump at the thought of trying to sleep away in a family tent.

We had such a good camping experience two summers ago with B at Sauble Beach (where I spent many childhood summers and where we spent some of our honeymoon). We’re also planning on going back there this summer but we stay at a private campground which doesn’t require us to book that far in advance to get a site. I was amazed that pretty much all of the good sites were already booked for this Summer on the Ontario Parks reservations website.

I’m a little nervous about camping with the littlest fellow although I’m sure it’ll be fine!

Tips for camping with small children anyone?

Below are some older photos of our camping trip two summers ago - B was 2. Where does the time go!