er...looking over my entries..it's pretty clear activity here has slowed down to none...

that's because..for nearly 2 yrs now..I've been sucked in by the facebook.

Initially, it was a problem..it's secret name is 'crackbook'  so, if you must, you can find me there.

cause I seldom come 'round here anymore.

 

www.facebook.com

My husband came home last week with a new toy. He says his boss gave it to him at work  (he's been known to give away lots of things) I hope that's not a clever'cover story' because these aren't cheap video game units....but anyway...we've joined the world of Wii.

Of course there's all the 'stuff' you gotta buy extra...but now we've got 2 Wii wheels and a Mario go-kart game, which the kids just love. Eryn is impressively skilled at it...Aiden...well....he can either try to steer, or push the gas button, but can't seem to perform both together....doesn't stop him from 'playing' though.

I'm sure it won't be long before Eryn can beat her daddy.

Here's a few cute photos of them   (love Eryn's facial expression as she plays )...my  Wii Ones....   I also posted a video of them playing Wii...on my Facebook

 

 

Aiden's birthday was this week. It's so shocking to realize he's THREE yrs old now, babyhood, toddlerhood now nearly behind us.

He had a good birthday, busy busy day and he's VERY pleased with his 'transformer ' toys from Nana & Papa.  Now we just need to get him doing his thing on the potty. He's so stubborn though, things aways work best when he thinks it's his idea to do something. 

We're having a lil' party for him, with just his cousins over. 

Here's a few photos from his special day. The kids helped make Aiden's birthday cake, so they got to lick the spoons. ..makes for cute photos.

 

 

 

SURVIVAL!!!

 

My hubby went out of town on his first business trip since we married. He was gone for the week, returning friday night, late.  I've got lots of 'tools' in my 'bag' now, so I knew a few things to do to make the wek easier for me. 

I ensured I'd have super easy food & meals for the kids, that I'd gotten all the chores and laundry finished BEFORE he left, and all the grocery shopping done. I lined up a few 'playdates' and activities for the kids, gotten a few new crafts for them to work on, and rented an armload of movies from the store.

For bedtime, the first night I tried to do it myself the 'usual' way, but I felt like a game show contestant, running back and forth from room to room, tucking in each child, doing the requisite number of songs and stories and letting them know; NO FUNNY BUSINESS tonight.  For the rest of the week, about an hour before bedtime, I'd start a new movie in the dvd player and they'd chill-out with me and fell asleep pretty quick. Once soundly asleep I'd just transfer each one (VERY delicately) into bed and was done, with minimal energy expenditure and  zero resistance. 

Things I learned from my week;

 

It isn't worth it to 'sweat the small stuff'.

I CAN manage the kids alone, for days on end  (something I could not have done 1 or 2 years ago).

The kids were responding well by the end of the week, we became 'a crew'

  (I'm guessing because there were no mixed messages coming in from mom & dad)

Organization is the KEY to ease, and a PLAN lets the day 'flow'

The house managed to stay cleaner than when hubby is home

 

 

I pampered myself, when hubby returned, by getting my hair 'done' 

 

It's still tough to wrap my head around...that my lil' girl is FOUR years old now....  babyhood, toddlerhood are behind her, she's a lil' girl now. ......she's a lil' girl who can write and recognise letters & numbers, who can cut with scissors like a pro,  dress herself completely  (even putting on tights), completely potty trained,  rides in a booster seat in the van, talks on the phone, she can eat a popsicle or lollipop without getting it everywhere  (not even on her hands),  she has an enormous repetoire of songs she sings, she can talk about and describe her dreams, she makes up songs and stories, LOVES to play 'tea party', and wear dresses, she can competently use a computer mouse and loves playing on the 'kids CBC'  website. 

Hard to believe that four years ago today, Gary & I gave birth to our first child....this time, four years ago...we were just dumb-struck...looking at each other...thinking;   WHAT are we in for????     It's been an adventure...from not even daring to trim her newborn delicate teeny tiny finger nails  ('fraid I'd accidentally trim her finger off) to watching her ride a 2 wheel bike with no training wheels...on stunts Gary's built in the yard !!!

 

She woke up this morning...and immediatly asked if we knew that it was her birthday today  :)

Gary made her favourite;  french toast   for breakfast.  Then she opened a few lil' gifts from us  (she's such a big girl, she even shared and let her brother open a gift for her) .  She was SOOOOoo excited just by a few new pair of BIG girl undies and some new socks!!!  She kept exclaiming ;  THIS IS MY BEST DAY!!!

We also got her a tub of 'moonsand'...it's sort of 'indoor' sand  and it sticks together (a bit like play-dough...only messier)....it'll be MESSY...  but she was so thrilled!

 

Tomorrow, will be her lil' birthday party, we'll just have her cousins/family  over and some cake.

After she opened her few lil' gifts....Aiden began sobbing.....

He was having a hard time....  it was ERYN's birthday..not his..

BUT, mommy was clever enough to anticipate this reaction in her 2 yr old son...so she already bought him a lil gift too....  but he'll have to wait until Eryn's party...

 

 

here's a few photos from this morning's  gift opening

 

\

I bought squirt guns for the kids today....'tis the season.... time to load up on 'sand toys', bubble solution, side walk chalk and  squirt guns!...next I'll need to update the sunglasses and sun hats and drag out the boes of spring/summer clothes. 

 

I also updated my site and photos for my dutch friends to see... (those NON-facebook europeans ;) 

HI Gaia..

HI   Peter  :) 

 (though Peter did succumb and join facebook ...JUST for me ) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My best girlfriend, Edie, came by the other day so her 2 kids could play with my 2 kids and we could maybe chat a bit...

I tried to take a video of 3 of the kids playing together, but the darn memory card was full!  Eryn & Isabella were running from Aiden 'the monster'...screamming all the way, trailed closely by Aiden making loud growly noises....they ran back and forth thru the house, every time causing baby Everett to be quite stunned, until finally crashing into him as he's taking shakey steps thru the house.  It was sooo cute..til baby got hurt.  I did get a few pics of their visit.... 

 

I am grateful for thermometers, sippy cups,  simple baby medicines likes gravol and tylenol, ice, electrolyte additives for water, laundry machines, baby wipes, Treehouse TV channel, soothers and  the telephone.

 

My kids are quite sick.They are feverish,  not eating, not drinking, vomiting, fairly immobile and lethergic, as well as congested. It's tough taking care of them. It's nasty cleaning up vomit and doing pukey laundry all day long, but I sooooo feel for them and their hurting bodies and inabilty to accurately voice what's ailing them. I worry and wonder... 

but at least I have all these modern day comforts.. I feel for mothers past and present that have helplessly had to watch thier babies get sicker and sicker and not know what to do, or even have the ability to DO anything.  As sick as my kids are...I am grateful...

and I know they will get better....

 

here's a photo I took when Eryn was VERY sick, and Aiden wasn't sick YET. He was a handful and when taking a photo of Eryn immobile on the couch, he had to be a part of it too!

 

 

As much as I  LOVE facebook  (or as my girlfriend calls it; 'crackbook').. I can't use facebook to create a memory album for my kids, the way I can using 'live spaces'

so...

I will endeavor to return frequently to post amusing stories of my kids childhood...which will automatically be posted to crackbook anyway...

 

Welcome back, AMy

 

 

p.s.  heres a pic of Eryn and a FANTASTIC tower she carefully balanced and built..it's truely an amazing lil tower..precariously balanced...

 

if you haven't checked out 'facebook' yet, I highly recommend it!

If you have checked out 'facebook', then here's the link to my facebook page:

but you have to be signed up with facebook to view it.

 

I added a couple new pics to my photo album above:

 

 

 

 

seems as though FACEBOOK has stolen me away from msn.

I haven't made a new post here, in about a month, me thinks.

I've joined FACEBOOK, and am truly surprised at the number of old friends I've found again there.

My profile there is public, if you join up, you can follow all my news there.

My profile/domain name is:

Amy Buchanan

 

I'll update this site, now and then, but FACEBOOK is easier to use, which means its quicker, and all my friends who update their page, that info is sent to me, so I don't need to pointlessly 'blogwalk', for example...

so, I encourage everyone!!!

SIGN UP   at FACEBOOK!!!!!

 

here's the link, if you can't figure out how to google it and find it yourself  : 

 

 

(cheeky-hey?)

 

hope to see you THERE!!!!!!!

come immigrate with me...

 

 

 

 

Eryn needs a helmet...

 

 

 

 

 

and, well, he's a year behind, so Aiden is easily distracted, but this clip of him ghost riding his bike is pretty cute:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's the link to

MY facebook

apparently 'all the rage' now and more fun than MSN live

I'm gonna try it out for a while, what's nice is, it'll 'sync' with this msn blog, every time I update it...cool hey?

god, I LOVE the internet!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've been wanting to do this since January  (part of the new years resolution thingys)

But I've put it off, and put it off, then it wasn't a good time, then we were sick, then there were birthdays coming etc..

No more putting it off.

I'm going to do this and start this week.

Not sure yet, which day this week, but by the end of the week for sure.

Today I went out and gathered all I will need to complete this task.... to fulfill my mission .

Now , I just need to organize the logistics and pick a day to begin.

I will be keeping a journal during this period, possibly posting it here..

we'll see how things go.

They say that the biggest contribution to failure of this feat, is not knowing what to expect.

I've been doing my Internet research for a while now, and have gathered so much info, that all 'new' info is just redundant now.

I am expecting one of the toughest things will be 'transitioning' back to 'normal' (though I am hoping that there will be a new 'normal' as a result of this), so I need to feel fully prepared for that as well.

I know that doing this will be for the greater good, even if my ego is screaming by day 3, thinking I'm trying to kill it.

I'm am excited at the prospect of my endeavor. I want to see if I can do it. I want the benefits of it and also, and no less important to me, are the secondary side effects.

I know I can do this,

and I KNOW I will be happy I did it,

then I will wonder why I didn't do it sooner,

and 'when can I do it again?'

 

here's the photo's:

 

can you guess what I am excited about beginning?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another perfect spring day here in the Best Place on Earth...

I suggested to Gary that we try a REAL hike with the kids.

A 'real' hike meaning;

in the mountains

no strollers

or paved trails

no bathrooms

no slings or snugglies

kids walking ON THEIR OWN!

 

We agreed they were big enough to try now.

I knew it'd have to be a short hike, no big hills or scary terrain.

I thought of the perfect spot, on Seymour Mtn.

A nice short loop, only 1 smallish hill, and lots of trees and interesting things to climb.

 

We ensured they were as mud/water proof as could be, and off we went..Eryn insisted on driving!

(see photo)

Once on the trail, naturally, the first 15 minutes they did nothing but RUN

eventually they slowed down enough to really start exploring, going off the trail, climbing over logs and thru bush.

I told Eryn we were looking for where the fairies live. And when we'd find an extra pretty green spot with thick moss, I'd say;  Eryn, Look!  A fairy made their bed there! see how soft?

Her favourite was looking in the hollow trees and logs, for fairies. When we didn't find any, I told her it was because Sirius' barking scared them away, because he's SO loud.

Near the half way point, they began to whine a bit, and began to ask to be carried..

but that's when the trail became the most interesting, with wooden bridges and other built up structures intended for mtn. bikes.

They LOVED climbing, walking and jumping on that stuff...

Got a few pictures of that. When Aiden was having a 'go' at a ladder, Eryn was clapping and saying;  'you can do it Aiden, good job!!'

was soooo cute!!!

then finally near the VERY end of the trail Aiden had enough, so Gary carried him, and Eryn whined a bit the last part out, but she walked it all under her own power.

I was proud of both of them!

Needlesstosay, they were exhausted when we put them in the car.

Aiden was ready for his snack I had packed for them. Eryn melted down most the way home, tired and now tooo hungry.

They're sleeping now, which affords me the free time to write this.

I expect they'll sleep for (i hope) 3 hours...

We did it!

our first family hike!

all powered under our own feet!

We didn't even bring the carry 'back-pack' with us ...

because Gary lost it on one of the last hikes we went out on..

how can you 'loose' a backpack?

well, when your finished with it, and unload your child,  then fasten him in the car seat, and drive away with the backpack still on the sidewalk....

you can loose it that way....

 

here's the pics;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once Gary returned from his after-hours emergency call this morning..(that he'd been 'on' since 4:30pm the previous day)

I got Eryn ready to go to the farm.  Aiden had to stay with Gary because he was still working (from home now) & I wasn't about to take TWO to the farm.

Once ready, Eryn as usual, was engaged in something else when it was time to walk out the door. I told her; "bye honey, I'm going to the farm now"

She dropped what she was busy with and said;

Oh, I need to go now I have to get my boots on!

 

We sang Ol' Macdonald..naturally on the way there...

Pulled into the small parking lot, snatched up the last parking space, and right by the entrance.

Eryn loved browsing thru the gift shop while I qued up to pay entrance and buy a pony ride.

As soon as we entered the farm, she was off running, chasing the ducks, chickens, roosters (wouldn't let her try to chase the gander). She wanted to see the big draft horses right away, they came right up to the fence to say HI.

She couldn't get over how BIG these horses were.

From there we followed the ponies to were the ponies rides begin.

It was still early enough there was no line for ponies, she even got to pick which pony to ride.

I woulda picked 'Buster' myself, but she chose the white one, called:  wait for it.....    'whitey'

he was grumpy, itchy, pushy and more interested in eating than being taken away from his food.

Eryn sat obediently in the chair waiting for 'whitey' to be readied for her.

I put her on top, stuck her feet in the stirrups. She was so full of GLEE it was infectious!

She held on like a pro!

Even when 'whitey' would stop to itch himself, shifting his weight around to scratch his sides or legs with his teeth, he even shook himself real good  (that is often enough to scare lil' kids) and she never once flinched or slid off her 'seat'.

She was  a natural, and in a stat of 'perma-grin' the entire time.

When we were finished, she didn't want to get off.

She was ready for more...

but pleased enough with herself.

I snapped a couple pics, but most was video footage, of her first ever pony ride!!!

 

Here's the pics of the rest of the visit to the farm.

She loved climbing around the goat pen, she would nicely but firmly ask the goat to move out of her way, and would get upset with them when they wouldn't listen to her.

She loved chasing the baby sheep!, but more fun than that was the mud in the pen.

She stopped to say hi to the pig, birds, bunnies, cows, turkey, peacock, donkey, and chickens.

 

here's the pics:

 

 

 

 

 I attended a lecture on anger in children this week.

temper tantrum frequency peaks between 18months & 3 yrs

And I have 2 kids that fall within that range.

 I am a constant referee, always needing to intervene, redirect, make peace, call penalties, time-outs, modeling proper behavior, positive reinforcement, preparing for transitions, administering first-aid, when necessary & doling out hugs & kisses at regular intervals.

 

The lecture was very informative. I am more clear in how I need to handle the inevitable temper tantrums and outbreaks, not to mention jealousy and sibling rivalry.

Also discussed was parents' anger and how it effects our kids and how THEY learn to deal with their anger..monkey see, monkey do...

 

I am getting the impression that once Aiden passes the 3yr mark, things will be much easier...different, but no more diapers, bottles, soothers, unintelligible baby gabber,  cribs and general babiness. Eryn is showing me glimmers of this, as she's able to be reasoned with. She understands that if she does something, there could be a consequence, and therefore she should choose something different, not to mention her ability to express herself with words. I'm not expecting it to be less demanding, but I'm expecting it to be easier in other respects.

 

This weekend promises mild sunny weather.

We're going to see if we can get the kids to the farm for a visit, and maybe even a...PONY RIDE!!!!!

there'll be pictures of that FOR SURE!

 

 

 

 

 

Yesterday blossomed into a beautiful day here in the Best Place on Earth. The kids were itching to go outside, so I packaged them up and stowed them in the double capsule, and began the trek round the golf course  (it's a 4km loop). I stopped and the playground and released the spawn  (let the kids out). They played there for a good hour and a bit, dog included. Then I tucked them into the stroller again and we headed home. The trail takes us thru the woods behind Nana's house. You can even cut thru the woods and enter Nana's backyard, but only on foot, not with a stroller. So we don't go that way often. We usually have to push the stroller around the long way via the roads. We were simply headed home, singing our way along, when Eryn was able to recognise where we were and with no prompting from me, INSISTED we stop at Nana's house before we go home. She KNEW we were right close by, she recognised it. I was impressed, so complied with her request, even though it meant back tracking to the roads, because the big double stroller can't cut thru the woods to grandmothers' house. I couldn't stay long for a visit, as it was fast approaching lunch hour, and naptime.

I've found lately that if I can really wear Eryn out in the am, she'll most likely take a brief nap when Aiden does.

So, she's not off her naptime quite yet.

 

Today was our first day of our new dance class. It's an hour long, then there's a 1/2 hour break, then a 30-40 min story time. The kids were busy busy busy from 10:30 to 12:45 when I had to take them away and head for home before a major meltdown began  (from Aiden..poor Boo-boo really loves his naps). The dance class was awesome. Eryn was grinning non-stop. She learned to point her toes, stand in 'first position', tried to copy certain shapes with her body &  coordinate certain movements together.  I say 'she' because I'm sure all Aiden learned was how to wave a ribbon wand. After an hour of various dancing exercises, Pascale set out the snack. The kids all gladly sat down to eat and drink, by then.

After snack, they had some time for 'free play'  (Pascale has many bins of toys available) before she settled them down again for felt board stories and books. I loved all the structure she has built into her programs. The kids were great, they gladly participated in everything.

We had to bow out of the last half hour of it, as Aiden began to melt down from his exhaustion. Next week, we'll have art again, and tomorrow is a lecture series on 'anger' I get to attend, while the kids play.

I got some great pics of the kids doing their various things.

Here's the pics, some I posted above in the big photo album too.

 

 

 

 

This was an exciting week for us.

My friend Maddie, from Ontario, came to visit us in B.C.

For about a year now, Maddie has been my blogger friend...that is to say..we met thru our blogs.

after many blog visits, we became message buddies, messaging conversations with each other thru MSN, often several times a week.

Last month Maddie told me she'd be coming west to visit her Mother-in-law for a vacation.

First, I thought she was nuts...

who goes to visit their mother-in-law for a vacation?

Sure enough though, Maddie headed west, for a week, all by herself, no kids or husband.

I told her if she's coming west, to be sure to stop in Vancouver so I could see her.

This past week, we had our visit.

It came in 2 parts.

first, I picked her up from the airport. She stayed with us that day & over night.

The next day I showed her as much of the city as I could in a few hours. The hardest part was deciding what to show her, there is soooo much to see here.

After our 'tour' I took her to the ferry and off she went to spend some time with her in-laws.

On Friday, she returned to the mainland for a girls night out.

We had to change our plans several times, but in the end we had an awesome night.

and we stumbled home at a fairly reasonable hour.

I returned her to the ferry the next morn, and off she went again to spend the rest of Easter with her in-laws.

It was awesome to meet her in person, to make the final connection face to face, since previous to that our friendship was virtual.

Gary thought it would be weird to hang out with someone I'd met on-line.

I didn't think it would be weird at all... until Gary said something...then I began to worry a bit...will it be weird? will it be awkward?

 

The day she arrived, I had planned on leaving the kids with Nana, while I went to met her at the airport. I explained to Eryn what was going on...and she would have NONE of that. She told me that she had a good idea; "how bout you & Aiden go to Nana's and I go get Maddie at the airport?" So, she convinced me that she really really really wanted to come too. When we were driving up to the airport, we could see the planes landing. Eryn says;  look Mommy, the planes are falling out of the sky

While we were waiting for Maddie to emerge, Eryn was quite entertained putting her ponies on the luggage carousel and following them around.

Eryn was just as excited to see her as I was.

We headed back to fetch Aiden, then home for naps. By this time Eryn was beginning to show signs of fever.

After naps, since it was such a glorious afternoon, we went down to the beach for a walk.

The tide was out, so Maddie got to explore the beach a bit. Her first time seeing the pacific ocean!

The kids loved it too naturally.

The next day, Eryn was still feverish, so she skipped daycare and came with us on our 'city tour' (Aiden did go to daycare for the morning)

Even feverish, Eryn was a trooper on our tour.

After hitting as many spots as we could, it was time to fetch Aiden again, head home for naps, then straight after, take Maddie to the ferry.

 

That was the end of our first visit.

Maddie & I & Adrienne were all going to go our together for a girls night (since Adrienne had become a blogger friend of hers too)

but 'shit' happens and we had to change plans.

I knew Maddie really wanted to try some yummy Japanese food...so enter Edie!

Edie lived in japan for a while and knows many of the yummiest Japanese restaurants around town. When I called her, she knew exactly where she wanted to take us to eat:  Guu with Garlic

So, I picked up Maddie from the ferry again, and headed back to my place. Edie fetched us from there and drove us downtown (this was her first evening away from her 6month old lil' boy so it was important she have her own 'wheels').

We were early for our reservation, so we walked Robson street a bit. I got a cute pic of me & Bjork as well as some insane nail salon window!

The restaurant was AWESOME, the food lived up to all the hype  (and if you search on-line, you'll see there is a bit of hype around Guu with Garlic)

and THANK GOD Edie was there, because I have zero knowledge of japanese food, aside from some sushi....and this was no sushi bar.

We got a skookum table in their special room (can't remember what they call the room) but it was a shoeless room where you sit on the floor.  Edie started off with a freaky sounding cocktail. I told her to order hers first, and I'll try a sip.

It was some vodka based honeydew mix with a scoop of sake ice cream thrown in.

It looked really weird, especially as the sake ice cream ball began to melt, then the cocktail became a milky green colour...

but

OH my GOD was it ever yummy, and went sooooo well with all the crazy food we were eating.

Guu with Garlic is Japanese style Tapas, so Edie ordered up a bunch of dishes and we shared everything and split the bill.

ALL the dishes were scrumptious from the first to the last. I was expecting food along the lines of : lots of seaweed, raw fish, weird veggies and strange smells.

Every dish had its own distinct flavour, we even had Japanese style fried chicken!!! Which burned my mouth because I couldn't wait long enough for it to cool down before savouring every bite.

After a good hour & a half of eating drinking and merry making...our table was needed for the next reservation...

Edie decided she'd been away from her babe long enough and returned to her coup after dropping us in Yaletown for the rest of the evening.

Maddie and I strolled around yaletown on that gorgeous balmy warm evening. Downtown was packed with people, all out to enjoy the first truly warm evening of the year! Robson street was packed, both with cars and people.

Yaletown was better, quieter, more laid-back.

After strolling around for a bit, we returned to a great looking lounge called George (it's downstairs from the Brix restaurant)

Most of the cocktails on their menu are British inspired, which told me absolutely nothing.

The cocktail menu was INSANE

there were the craziest drinks I'd heard of. The ingredients in these were so outrageous I cant even remember them all, but I remember there was a drink I nearly ordered that had fresh rosemary and strawberries in it among many other things.

It was like going to a crazy juice bar that added booze to the fruit smoothies.

I asked for the most popular drink, which turned out to be a: pomegranate cosmopolitan. Maddie order something called Jade Dawn

which was made with kiwis and cucumber amongst other things. Oddly enough, her drink was sweeter than mine!

they were doubles too..... so that place is danger from the GET go.

Next we walked the rest of yaletown window shopping etc..

and finished off with a brewski at the yaletown brewery, before hoofing it to the sky train station.

Poor Maddie, wearing high heeled boots and all, never complained about all the walking, even the walk home from the sky train station to home. She's a great sport!

With little sleep, the next morning, we were up and driving to the ferry.

Maddie, like most folks who come to the Best Place on Earth, fell in love with BC  (and what's NOT to love...except for the prices $$$ and all the people..over 2 million live 'round here)

 

I know she'll be back. Next time hopefully with Adam & her kids.

What an awesome visit we'll have then too!

so, something can be said for cyberspace after all;

It's a place created by imagination,

that makes space for worlds to unite.

If Maddie was any different than who she is, then our meeting may have been awkward or strained. But she's as real in person as she is in cyberspace, no pretense, no airs.

I suppose if I was any different than who I am, the same could be said.

As it was, it was a great visit.

It was awesome to meet you in person Maddie!

Maddies' girls sent some lil ponies with her to give to Eryn. Eryn still looks for THOSE ponies to sleep with, no others will do.

Thanks for coming to see us Maddie!

We look forward to the next time!

Glad you finally got to sample the Best Place on Earth!!!!

 

Here's the photos' of our visit, from our meeting at the airport, stroll along the beach,city tour and our night out.