September rolls into October

Without any further apologies - actually, without any apology whatsoever - I am going to catch up on some photos from the last month and a half.  You know, that month of September?  The one that was here for about a day in between August and October?  Yeah, that month.  It was busy, and here are a few pictures to prove that it did indeed last more than one day.
On Labour Day, we went to Safari Niagara with Mom and Dad M.  It turned out to be a pretty chilly day, but thankfully it didn't rain on us, and we stayed relatively warm - except for poor Dad who wore shorts.  We were pleasantly surprised by the wide variety of animals there, and the boys especially enjoyed the treat of hearing the lion roaring several times during the day. 

Riding the train around the park

White Siberian Tiger

 I think this lion was the boys' favourite!

Hippos lounging.  Aaron randomly started talking about these hippos this morning at breakfast, talking about how they were under the water, which they were when we saw them the second time

 One of my favourites, the weirdly elegant giraffe!

 Aaron the hippo!

 Warthog

 Camels, one with a saggy, lumpy bump

 And then in mid-September, we celebrated Nate's first birthday.  Yeah, I know I already did a post about his birthday, but here are a few photos of the celebrating that we did.  I can't take credit for all these photos, as some of them are mine but other ones came from Mom VD or Bethany.

Nate's cake!  I actually forgot to take a picture (gasp, shock, shame) 

but Bethany saved the day and took one for me!

We took the kids to Port Dalhousie for a ride on the carousel.  Looks like Mommy gets to ride on the sleigh.  Again.  We've been to the 5-cent carousel several times now, but I have not yet had a ride on an animal, despite my attempts at coercing my children into thinking it is fun.  Peter and Nate were much more content to ride in the sleigh, so there I sat as well. 

 See?  It is FUN to ride the animals.  If only Daddy's 

enthusiasm could be contagious for the kids!

 Aaron was brave enough to take a ride by Grandpa's side

 Enjoying a quick stop by the beach.  I really like this shot!

 I think he might have enjoyed his cake.  Just a little... 

 Cake went over pretty well with this guy, too.  Note the empty fork and the bite of cake in mid-fall, haha!

 I could use some more of that cake stuff, Mom!  It wasn't half-bad!

Four lions, roaring ferociously.  Thankfully we have a gate on our 

deck to keep them out, or we would all have certainly been eaten alive!

Danielle, Lauren and I had a sleepover to celebrate our birthdays.  How fun!  Nate came along with us and helped Danielle to a  fabulous victory in a new word game, giving her many solid tips

 Also in September, our copy of "Cars and Trucks and Things that Go" suffered some serious and disappointing damage at the hands of a delinquent napper.  This much beloved book required some delicate and lengthy surgery and has been repaired to a somewhat less glamorous version of its former self. 

 I took advantage of a beautiful fall morning to take the boys to Happy Rolph's to see the animals and feed the ducks.  We all had a good time, and I think we'll be going back there more often. 

 I'm sure this little guy can't wait to be walking on his own!  He's doing really well right now with that, walking a good number of steps between obstacles, and I don't think it will be long before he abandons crawling  and adopts walking as the new mode of transportation.  In the meantime, when I take all three boys out, he has to be content to sit in the stroller.  

Peter carefully ripping up his bread for the ducks.  I didn't get too many pictures of this, as I had to keep a close eye on Aaron, who kept trying to sneak the nasty old bread into his own mouth instead of feeding it to the ducks. 

Can you guess who this might be?  He gets into EVERYTHING!  Excuse the messy picture.  I had blockaded the computer tower off with a laundry bin and a chair, but Nate figures, why not crawl under the bed to get there instead?  If Mom blocks it off, it must be worthwhile breaking into.  Perhaps I should attach a dust cloth to him and send him under there on a more regular basis...

 It is fire prevention week in St. Catharines, and we walked with the boys to the fire station by our house on the weekend.  They were excited to sit in the fire truck, see all the hoses, and even ride on the boat!

 Aaron gets at turn.  Just as we were getting ready to go, they received a call and we watched them get ready to go, and take off with the sirens going!  Pretty exciting.

 Getting a tour of the truck

On Thanksgiving Monday, we went to Queenston Heights with Rick and Elaine and their kids.  The weather was so gorgeous, and we enjoyed walking around the park and spending some time at the playground. 

 Peter made sure Thomas didn't get lost

 I thought perhaps if I buried him in a basket of toys, he might stay in one place and out of trouble for a few minutes.  He seemed to be pretty happy in there.

It is a never-ending job for a Mom to try to keep her kids clean.  Every time I turn around, there is a new mess to clean up.  Of course, messy playing is usually the most fun, so I have to let them get into the mud sometimes.  It's too bad the weather is cooling off enough now that I can't just clean them off with the garden hose anymore, haha.  But seriously...when this much dirt can accumulate ONE HOUR since I last swept the kitchen, how am I supposed to keep my house decently clean? 

 Especially when this little monkey wants a ride on the 

vacuum every time I try to clean up the mess?

 They play outside... and get covered in chalk.  Aaron!  You have a blue nose!

And then Peter sees me taking a picture of Aaron with his 

blue nose, and proceeds to grab the chalk and colour up his 

own nose so that I'll take a picture of him too...

 But how can I deny this sweet child the endless joys of the 

sandbox?  Because obviously, he is in his glory covered in dirt.

 Lots of fun to be found in the dirty outdoors...

And there's the dirty indoors too.  Nate enjoyed his first Oreo, and I think he'd agree that the post-cookie-doekie-cleanup was worth it.  I was pretty impressed with how he ate it, as he carefully separated the two sides just like his brothers were doing.  Is it just a natural instinct to eat Oreos that way?  I found it very interesting that he ate it that way. 

 This mess was pretty sizeable, but so was the happy-factor.  The older two had a LOAD of fun with a bucket of water in the sandbox this week.  Judging by the forecast, they won't be playing with buckets of water too much more until the springtime when it warms up again out there.

Dirty boys headed straight inside to the tub.  When I shook out their clothes outside, a pound of rocks came flying out of Peter's pant pockets.  I think day by day, we are relocating the gravel from the playground at school to our house via the boys' pockets, and my poor washing machine has washed a few more rocks than it probably should have.

The Good, the Bad, and the... Cute

Some days, foolishly, I know, I think I can get away with a shower when all three boys are awake.  What mom of young children actually thinks she has a right to such a hygienic luxury?  Apparently, one like me.  On these days, I am usually quite soaked and unavailable to arbitrate whenever the inevitable argument shows up, wailing for Mommy and knocking in distress on the bathroom door.  Today was one of those days.  I hear the wails as I shut off the water, and wonder what transgression has taken place while I was otherwise occupied.  Peter is at the door and, surprisingly, is not wailing or accusing his brother of any particular crime.  However, he does urgently inform me that "Aaron has a problem, Mommy!  Come and see!!"  I can hear Aaron crying in the living room, but not a cry of pain.  More... distress, I suppose.
"What kind of problem does Aaron have, Peter?"  I inquire.
"He dropped the plant!" Peter replies.
Ahhh.  I see.  I go to the living room to assess the damage.  From what I can gather, Aaron was playing by the bookshelf and must have pulled the trailing ivy down off the top shelf, fortunately not dropping the ceramic pot on his head in the process.  Thankful for this, I calmly give Aaron a hug, and ask him what he should say to his Mommy.
"I'm sorry Mommy!" he tearfully sniffs into my shoulder. 
It is 7:30 a.m. and my first disaster of the day will involve clean-up of wet soil, spread artfully across both couches and the beige carpet. (Why oh why did we ever buy a beige carpet in the first place??) And I can't help but notice that the pot of soil managed to land upside down in an open bin full of toys and stuffed animals.  Won't this be fun? Instead of tackling the mess right off the bat, I set the boys up in the kitchen with some breakfast.  Once they are contentedly eating, I set about cleaning up in the living room.  From the kitchen, I hear Aaron calling me.
"Mommy?  Mommy!  I not do that again, Mommy!"

Awwww.  From around the corner, I can't help but smile.  Despite the bumps in the road, I love my kids!  I think it's a good thing to be able to find the humour in certain circumstances, as long as you can hide the fact that you think it's funny from your kids.  Take a picture with a straight face, then proceed with discipline.
Here are a few ways to know that your children have been doing what they should not when you are not around:

Crime:  Half-eaten chalk left lying on the ground.  

Suspect:  Nathaniel.  

Evidence:  Orange smears on face.  

Case closed. 

Crime:  The mirror in the bathroom has been "cleaned"  
Suspect:  Peter.
Evidence:  Water bottle left on floor.
Not enough evidence to convict.  Case thrown out.

Crime:  Camping equipment out of the box, flashlight left on in the basement.
Suspect:  Peter or Aaron.
Evidence:  Circumstantial at best, as both were playing in the basement but not observed.
Case thrown out. 

Crime:  Somebody other than Mom or Dad opened the downstairs freezer
Suspect:  Aaron
Evidence:  Grader machine discovered frozen inside after both boys were playing in the basement. 
This one made me laugh out loud.  Case thrown out. 

Crime:  Dead batteries removed from can on Daddy's DO NOT TOUCH workbench
Suspect:  Aaron, Peter as an accessory after the fact
Evidence:  Dead batteries strewn over the basement carpet, and loaded into trucks
Case thrown out.  They're just dead batteries I suppose.

And then there's the things that you discover when you walk in the room.  Nathaniel has been the one giving me the highest number of heart attacks recently, as he is, apparently, good at climbing.  I have found him on the toilet, in Aaron's bed, on the patio table, on the deck benches, on the couch, on various coffee tables,, and one of his personal bests so far from this morning:  standing backwards on the kids' rocking chair, rocking with no hands.  As you can imagine, I do not stop to take pictures of most of these situations.  I think he's practicing now, developing the skills to climb out of his crib - which the other boys never figured out how to do.  This kid keeps me hopping!

 

And then on other days, you find them doing things so sweet they melt your heart.  We put Aaron and Peter to bed one night in the same bed, just for kicks.  We didn't hear a PEEP from them, and when we checked on them they were both sound asleep, still under the covers.

And Nate, so cheerfully watching his Mommy from inside. 

My one and three year olds, loving each other lots 

and fast developing into good friends. 

 Handsome three year old. 

 Sweet 2 year old

 I love my kids!!  While it's busy, and sometimes I feel like it's way too much, there's something pretty special about having a one-year-old, two-year-old, and a three-year-old.  It's a pretty huge blessing, and those sweet moments make it all worthwhile, together with the laughs when ridiculous things happen!

Haircut!

Well, his birthday was yesterday and he's officially one, so I buckled down this morning and gave the little guy a haircut.  He wasn't too thrilled about it at first, and I was afraid I'd have to abandon ship after the first few snips, but after recruiting the older two boys to keep him entertained, things went a little bit better.  Sad to cut off those blond curls, but he's looking much less shaggy now - and also a whole lot older. 

This water bottle is pretty fun, Mom!

 A side view - not the best haircut in the world, but it'll do.

 Looking so much more grown up!  Amazing what a haircut can do

Awww, this whole birthday thing is so tiring!  He was falling asleep in his highchair at lunch, and I was hoping to keep him awake until after we got home from bringing Peter to school.  I took him out and sat him on the ground to wake him up a bit, but while I was reading the Bible with the older two, he crawled under his highchair and fell asleep on the floor.  Poor guy!

Happy Birthday Nathaniel!

A whole year has gone by already?  How can that be... our baby is no longer a baby.  Happy birthday, Nate!  You are such a blessing to have around, doling out heart-melting smiles all the time and generally being a cheerful influence on everyone else.  Your standard mood is happy and content, and you love all the attention you receive from your brothers, although they can be a little rough for you sometimes!  You can't wait to start running around with them and playing their games, and I have a good feeling the three of you are going to have a lot of fun.  We are so thankful for you, and we look forward to seeing what the next year has in store for you!

Happily playing with his brothers in the "lion's den" on his birthday

 This pictures just makes me chuckle

 Happy birthday, sweetie!

Hmmm

Interesting eh?  The little guy's had a fever off and on (mostly on) since Friday, between 100 and 101.5 degrees, so nothing terribly high, but a little too long-lasting for my liking.  He's also been pretty cranky and he's been having a hard time sleeping, being quite restless, doing a lot of crying and needing a lot of cuddles.  He doesn't have much of an appetite, and I certainly can't get any more liquid into him than usual.  I had thought perhaps he was teething, as he's got a few teeth at the top that have been so close to popping through for a while now.  Staying home from church with him on Sunday, I saw a red spot on his forehead and on his cheek and thought he just bonked himself on something... and then yesterday his "bonk" marks seemed to have spread, and now he has some small spots behind his ear, under his chin, and perhaps even some on his chest.  Seems like we'll be making a visit to the doctor at some point today.  Any ideas out there, Dr. Moms?
Edit:
After a trip to the doctor yesterday, it seems that it is most likely Roseola.  Several days of fever, followed by a rash when the fever breaks.  The rash on his face is looking a little better today, but it has spread to his torso now, which is covered in red spots.  He's still a little cranky, but he's been sleeping a bit better, which hopefully will help in time with the crankiness.  So far, Peter and Aaron seem to be fine, and we're hoping they don't end up with it as well.  We are having family pictures taken tomorrow for the church directory, which should be interesting if this rash kicks around!  I took a few more pictures yesterday as the rash developed:

 

My Best Friend and Household Enemy

Sandbox
Creative, delightful
Playing, imagining, building
Keeping children busy for hours
Filling the house with a million grains
Sweeping, vacuuming, frustrating,
Gritty, dirty
Sandbox

(picture taken in May at Mom and Dad M's)

First Day to Stay

Waiting in the line to go into his classroom with a few of the 

other kids... it felt pretty strange to leave him behind.  

I'd love to be a fly on the wall in his classroom!!

I don't think he was as nervous as he appears in this 

photo.  He was pretty excited about going to school 

again, but he refused to smile for the picture

A Day of Firsts!!

The first day of school has arrived for Peter... today was an hour-long orientation day, and tomorrow is the first day he will attend on his own in the afternoon.  Hard to believe the little guy is in school already, and I hope it's a good year for him!  

And we knew this day was coming up - just not when exactly it would be.  Our little guy took his first step!  He took a few today, one at a time, and it was fun to watch!  I was pretty sure he would be taking his first steps before his birthday, and sure enough, it happened!!

Grab A Coffee, You'll Be Here For A While

Whew, August was a whirlwind, or perhaps I should call it a "tornado" instead since we almost ran into some of those as well.  It's been busy and full and sad and happy, and we are grateful to be home. 
On Wednesday, August 24, Oma Vander Deen passed away into glory.  After a painful battle with cancer, she is now free from suffering and rejoicing with our Lord in heaven.  It is difficult to say good-bye and she will be greatly missed by everyone left behind, but we rejoice that she is now in the loving arms of her Saviour, and we look forward to that glorious day when we shall all meet again. 

Lord, You have assigned me my portion and my cup; 

You have made my lot secure.  

The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; 

surely, I have a delightful inheritance.  

Psalm 16:5-6

We had a camping trip planned with Mike's family to the Pinery at the end of August, but our plans were kept somewhat tentative as we waited and watched for news about Oma.  We had the opportunity to visit with her several times in the weeks and days before she passed away.  We packed for camping, a wedding, and a funeral and left home on August 20.  Camping turned out to be a very strange week, with Mom and Dad gone most of the time, and the campground itself being a bit of a disappointment.  Between filthy bathrooms, a gazillion wasps and stings to accompany them, and being driven home by tornado warnings, it wasn't a normal relaxing week of camping, but we were thankful to be all together as a family.  We were even thankful for the tornado warnings, as we battened down the hatches at the campsite and headed to Mom and Dad's in Strathroy to hold out in the basement for the evening.  It was that evening that Oma passed away, and we were thankful to be together as a family for that time. 
Thursday night we headed home from Pinery, and attended a wedding in Milton on Friday before driving back to Strathroy on Saturday afternoon for the first of two evening visitations before the funeral on Monday morning.  It was one more night in Hamilton, and then a day at school for both Mike and I to work on setting up his classroom for the first day of school while Mom and Dad M watched our three boys at their place.
Now we've had a few days at home to unpack, clean up, and unwind a bit (as much as you can with the first day of school quickly approaching).  I have to admit that not all the camping equipment is put away yet - the tent is still hanging over the clothes line downstairs, the cooler just went downstairs this morning after drying out on the deck, and I still have to organize and put away some of the smaller camping items.  BUT the laundry is pretty much caught up, the main floor is pretty much sand-free, and things look pretty much back to order.  It's good to be home! 
Three sleeps, Peter!  Only three sleeps left!!  Peter is excited about the first day of school on Tuesday.  We have an orientation day where I go with him for an hour on his first day, and then Wednesday is the first afternoon he attends on his own.  It will be a big change for him, and an adjustment for everyone in our family.  He is looking forward to meeting other kids (and girls, he told me last night when I was tucking him in to bed, haha), playing, and learning.  I'm excited for him but a little nervous at the same time.  I'm not looking forward to having to pack all three kids up twice a day for drop-off and pick-up.  His class starts right after lunch, when the two younger boys are ready for a nap - and if they fall asleep on the way to school, naps are toast for the afternoon.  We'll just have to wait and see how things go.  If our days constantly turn into a huge disaster, I have no problem pulling him out after a month or two and keeping him at home with us for another year.    
Aaron is slowly getting used to the fact that only Peter is going to be in school, but he's going to miss having his big buddy around.  Thankfully, he usually naps in the afternoon still, and even if he doesn't, I'm looking forward to Aaron being the big brother in the house for a little while every day.  He's really testing limits the last little while, getting into things that he KNOWS are off-limits or against the rules, and being a trouble-maker.  He is fun to talk with as his communication is improving by leaps and bounds.  He maintains his extremely enthusiastic energy about exciting new things (how's that for alliteration), like seeing animals, construction vehicles, or suggesting things like going to the Big M for ice-cream.  It's pretty much impossible not to laugh when he gets excited like that, and I will make it my task for the next week or so to capture it on video.  He was very enthusiastic about camping in the "forest", but there was a little trepidation about the fact that animals live in the forest, asking "They not eat me?  No scary animals in the forest?"
"Baby" Nate is almost not a baby anymore!  Only two weeks left until his first birthday.  Poor guy will have to wait until then to have his "wings" clipped - the wild curls he has sticking out from his head that go especially crazy when it's humid like today.  Not that I want to give him an all-out haircut yet, just a little trim here and there so he looks a little more under control and less mullet-y.  But there will be none of that until he is officially one.  Besides, his little blond curls are pretty cute!  He is doing well, crawling around like a pro, pulling himself up on everything (including onto the top of the coffee table, an ability I'm not too thrilled about), and cruising around the furniture.  He can stand on his own for 10-15 seconds and is excited to walk while holding our hands.  He's developing a bit of a temper, or perhaps it's more of a sense of entitlement - when you take something away from him he gets quite upset.  For the most part, he is an extremely cheerful little guy, charming everyone around with his constant smile and the sparkle in his eye.  I wonder if he will develop into a trouble maker who tries to charm his way out of trouble.  He hasn't really said any words yet, other than "mama" once at the cottage but I have to admit that it was probably just a fluke.  Hey, I'm allowed to be excited about that right?  Anyways.  He's drinking a little more than he was before, but still not more than between 10 and 15 ounces a day.  The pediatrician wasn't too concerned about the drinking as he isn't dehydrated and he's getting liquid through his food as well.  I do have to be sure he gets enough calcium and vitamin D to make up for the low milk intake.  As far as the persistant cough goes, he has been on a puffer now for about two weeks, which seems to have cleared up the cough finally, and after another two weeks or so the doctor said I can start weaning him off it again and see what happens.  I certainly don't want to have him dependent on a puffer, or any medication for that matter, but I'm glad his chest has cleared up finally. 
He is right at that awkward stage where he's dropping his morning nap and going down to one nap in the afternoon, and trying to get him adjusted without sleeping too late in the day has resulted in him falling asleep numerous times at the lunch or dinner table.  I do enjoy having him sleep on me still every once in a while, because they grow up so quickly and soon enough they don't do that anymore.  Cuddling with a sleeping baby is pretty precious.  How can he be almost one already?  Anyways.  On to the pictures!

One of Mike's projects for the summer was to brick in the milk door.  A few months ago, thieves kicked in our neighbor's milk door and let themselves into their house, taking off with several thousand dollars of goods.  While the most valuable items in our home are not incredibly portable (appliances, furnace, etc), it would be miserable in any case to have someone break in.  So, Mike learned masonry.  I don't know what it is about men and being born with a gene for home improvement knowledge, but I sure do appreciate my handy husband!  This is the wall with the door removed, before being bricked in:

 All bricked in - the mortar is still wet, but
now that it's dry, you can hardly tell!

 Peter trying to hide a smile

 Aaron hard at work with his tools

 Oh no!  It's the masked underwear bandits!  Run for your lives!!

 In case you ever wondered how difficult it might 

be to clean your house with little kids around...

 Ahhhh, this is the life

 I took this picture on our way to the Pinery.  This storm produced an F3 tornado which ripped through the center of Goderich just 45 minutes away- I'm glad we didn't know about this while we were setting up.  It was a pretty intense sky!

Nate LOVED the beach.  It was very dirty at the campsite, so 

he spent most of his time there in a pack-and-play or being held.  

When he was set free on the beach, he was very happy to crawl around
and play with the sand and rocks.  Oh, and eat them of course. 

 What's a day at the beach without some construction projects?  

The boys loved helping their Dad build an island at the shoreline

It was nice to get some time in at the beach, and the kids had fun.  We had to cut our visit short, however, for the sake of Aaron's toe.  When we were packing up for camping a few days earlier, about an hour before we left, Aaron dropped a brick on his toe, so we had been soaking it in epsom salts twice a day and keeping him in rain boots as much as possible.  But what do you do at the beach?  He knocked it on something, and the nail was hardly hanging on anymore, so we went back to the campsite for some impromptu nail surgery.  Poor guy!  I'm sure it will be a long time before his toe is back to normal. 

 I took a lot of pictures the night of the tornado watch, but unfortunately not many of them turned out.  It was a crazy storm, with strong wind and lots of lightning - we heard afterward that there were 1000 strikes every two minutes from the storm, which stretched from Tobermory to Windsor and made its way across southern Ontario over the course of the evening.  My attempts to photograph them were not very successful but these were the best ones.  They were both taken at around 9:30 pm, with a 15 second exposure. 

 100% Boy, showing off a live cicada

 This picture makes me laugh, as it demonstrates some truths about camping with small children.  Peter is studiously roasting a hot dog for the first time, soaking in the experience.  In the background, Dad narrowly averts disaster as Aaron fiddles with the valve on the propane tank.  Keeps you on your toes! 

Yes, I did actually go camping as well!  I figured I should post the one 

picture of me that was taken to prove that I did, in fact, go family camping. 

 I like how this shot of Peter turned out. 

And what camping trip with small children is complete without ingestion of unidentified berries?  Aaron had been warned not to touch the berries, but apparently he had not been told not to EAT the berries.  So he ate them.  After a trip to the visitor's center, we were relieved to have them identified as silky dogwood berries, which are, thankfully, not poisonous