Happy Mother's Day

I am a little late in getting this post up, it was just too nice all weekend to be sitting at the computer blogging.

But I wanted to say Happy Mother's Day to all Moms! and I wanted to say a special Happy Mothers Day to a couple extra special Moms.

First my Mom.  I love my Mom so much and the longer I am a mom myself, the older my kids get, the more respect I have for her - taking care of 4 children while my Dad worked, went back to school and then herself getting a job outside the home when that is what the family needed.

She is not only an amazing Mom to me and my brothers and sister, but she is a wonderful grandma too.

My Mom and Dad

My Mom and the kids (taken a few years ago).

Second my Mother-in-law.  Hubby's Mom is a wonderful Mom, Mother-in-law and Grandma!  She raised 3 children on her own and they all turned out great.
I have so much respect for her and what she has done to make sure those 3 kids had a great childhood and turned into wonderful, well-rounded adults.

Hubby and his Mom

My Mother-in-law with the kids (taken a few years ago).

I wanted to leave you with my favourite Mom poem.  It makes me cry every time I read it because it is so completely true for me.

Before I was a Mom
I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby.
I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom
I had never been puked on.
Pooped on.
Chewed on.
Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts.
I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom
I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do tests.
Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom
I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put him down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom
I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.
I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache, the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much, before I was a Mom.

Dear Readers

Dear Blog,

I am sorry I have abandoned you all week.

There really is no excuse except I was busy and finally when some free time came about, I choose sleep over you.

Dear Readers,

I abandoned you all week too, and for that I am sorry, but as busy as I was, there was not a lot of bloggable stuff going on.

What did happen this week was I found a day home for Little Girl and Little Boy for next year.

Someone once told me that as a working Mom, the hardest years are the pre-school and Kindergarten years.
Wow, how true they are.

Last year I was stressed to the max trying to figure out how to get Little Girl to and from pre-school – so stressed in fact that I had neck and shoulder pain and went and saw a Chiropractor.

This year I have handled it a bit better, meaning no physical pain, but that doesn’t mean the stress is not there.

The day home we currently have the kids at is amazing. 

We started with Anna when Little Girl was just 12 months old and I was going back to work and  Little Boy at 11 months old.
Anna and her husband have become an extension of our family – and we love them. The kids love them.

But we have a problem.

Anna does not transport kids to and from school, she does not walk kids to bus stops, she does not have before and after school kids.

Anna likes the little kids – loves the babies.

So because of this Little Girl is bored.  She is the oldest and Little Boy is the next oldest, everyone else is younger.

We need a place for the her to go that would work with her Kindergarten schedule next year (2 ½ days a week).

My biggest problem was what am I going to do with her on the full days she is not in school? And what about Little Boy, can I leave him behind?  We are going to have to move him in a year or two anyway.

Last night we met with a day home provider and secured our spots with her.

She does before and after school and a full time day home.
All the children with her go to the same school Little Girl will be going to next year.
The bus stop is right outside her house.
She has another 3 year old that she takes care of full time – someone for Little Boy to play with.
She does lots of activities and keeps the kids active and entertained without constantly using the TV.
Best of all – Little Boy and Little Girl get to stay together!

My heart is breaking about having to leave Anna in September, but I know my heart will break when my kids graduate from high school too.  Changes are hard, but I am making a change that makes me feel good and I know is the perfect choice for us.

Have a great weekend,

Jenny

via

Via

Soccer has Started

Little Girl started soccer on Monday, and it went well but there is a bit of a funny story to go with it.

First is started with us checking in and being sent to the wrong field.

Then Little Girl started to cry and say she did not want to be there and wanted to go home.

So I was a little distracted dealing with her and helping her start to feel comfortable, changing her into her uniform (in freezing cold Calgary conditions).

But I was able to turn her around with the help of some "magic soccer pills" (don't worry, it was just mints, I wasn't actually drugging her).

And then the coach asked us if we were Team 1 - which we are - Team 1 U5.  He never clarified the U5 part, nor did he do a team roster check.

So I am sure you can figure out where this is going, yes, we were on the wrong team.  She played the entire practice and game on the U6 team and not with the U5 team.

But it is a good thing, those U6 kids were really good, she rarely got a chance to touch the ball in the game so crossing my fingers the U5 players are not as good and she will be able to not only touch the ball but score a goal as well.

She actually didn't want to leave the field on Monday because she had not scored a goal yet, and then she could not understand why she didn't get a gold medal yet.

Too cute!

So needless to say she will not be playing on the Blue team anymore but instead the Red team instead, but I could not resist posting these pictures - look at how adorable and grown up she is.

As you can see, it was a cold evening - thankfully I came prepared.

Editing to add:

Last night we had soccer again, and this time we played on the correct team.

Yeah!  The Red Team!!

Little Girl did awesome, no tears and way more smiles.

She had a blast and even scored 3 goals in the game!  So, yup, she is hooked.

Tired at the end of the game.

I even got super bonus Mom points because I shared the Magic Soccer Pills with another little girl and it helper her leave her Father's side and want to play again.
Nothing like a little placebo to help with those shy butterflies.

Super Scary Attempted Child Abduction

If you live in Calgary and have small children, I really hope you have already heard about the attempted child abduction that happened in Calgary 2 days ago.

Here is the link to the story in the Calgary Herald, but if you don't feel like reading the whole thing, what happened was a 3 year old girl was in her back yard  when 2 individuals (a man and woman), grabbed her and ran.

The little girl screamed, and this alerted the father who then started chasing on foot (I can only assume the parents were inside the house while the little girl was playing in the back yard.

Thankfully, the abductors put the girl down and continued running.
So far they have not been caught and the little girl is okay.  (At least at the time I am writing this.)

I don't know about you, but this story has freaked me right out.

We live on a corner, with sidewalks along the front of our house and along the whole side, and although we have our whole back yard fenced with a 6 foot fence, there is nothing to stop someone from opening the gate, grabbing and running as I am in the house making dinner or using the washroom.

There have been a few attempted child abductions in Calgary recently of older children walking home from school, but this is the first one of a child so young and also out of a backyard.

This one hits just too close to home.

I will be keeping a closer watch on my kids from now on, even when they are in the back yard and I think it is time to start those 'stranger danger' conversations with Little Girl.

One thing I do know - she would scream her little head off, but may this be a message to myself and all parents with children, you can never be too careful.

Family Camping

We had a fantastic time out at the trailer last weekend!

The kids had so much fun and there was no rain - what more could you ask for.

If you are a new reader to Minivan Stiletto, we own a lot in a campground out near Cranbrook BC on Moyie Lake.

So our trailer is permanently parked there, we have grass, a deck and a bunk house for guests.

I managed to snap a few pictures, no where near as many as I would have liked, but it is amazing how many walks we manage to fit in, and just sitting around relaxing.

Campfire time

Helping Daddy rake the grass.

Out for one of many walks.

A walk is not complete without ending up at the park.

We all had a wonderful weekend, we are so happy camping season is here and can't wait to get back out there.

Oh, we also got a special treat, on the drive to the trailer, we were able to stop in and see our brand new niece.  Adam's sister had her baby! 

Nothing like snuggles with an 8 day old baby!!

Little Girl was pretty excited to meet her first first cousin - however disappointed she was not up for playing with her and Little Boy.