quiet time

I don't quite know where to begin but I suppose the beginning would be most appropriate.  As I sit here in the quiet on Sunday.... Friday night seems far in the distant past.

Friday, Sept.27, 2013

5:15 p.m.
With the kid's bags packed for one night, I drove to Spielo at 5 p.m where Ryan and I did a speedy exchange of vehicles.  He drove off with both kids and I drove off..... alone.

5: 20 p.m.
I was somewhat in a daze as I left the parking lot alone in a vehicle that doesn't scream 'I'm a mom'.  I opened the sun roof, stepped on the gas and squealed like a school girl.  Seriously.  (I know.  How pathetic).

This was the first time in I have no idea how many.... YEARS.... that I have been alone for more than 3 hours.  At this point, it had only been 5 minutes but I was giddy.  I had 24 hours to kill.  All by myself.  So, I got settled into my adult car and drove off..... all by myself.

6:30 p.m.
When I walked in the door of our home with my sushi supper in hand, I was struck by the silence.  It was too quiet.

I got settled, poured myself a glass of wine, checked my email, tidied up the rest of the toys that laid around and sat uncomfortably in the silence.  It was odd.

Saturday, Sept. 28, 2013
At 3:30 p.m. I went for a bike ride and completely settled into this uncomfortable freedom that was going to be mine for another two or three hours at most.  It had been almost 24 hours but all of a sudden I wanted more.  Now, 24 hours wasn't long enough....

When Ryan got home with Leo at 6:15 p.m. I was anxiously waiting their arrival.  Ruby had fallen asleep before supper so we decided to let her spend one more night with Nana and Poppy in Sackville.  Leo had fallen asleep on the drive  home.  I picked him up from his car seat and carried him in to his bed, as I have done so many times before but this time was different.  I had missed him.  I had missed his beautiful smell, the weight of his body and the feeling of perfect love when he laid his tiny head on my shoulder and hugged me.  He was home.  I was home.

Life these days is challenging.  Having two young kids is not easy.  I'm working hard every day to keep it together.  I respect all moms everywhere who have done this and managed to have a kind word at the end of the day to share with their husbands.  Ryan is a good man.  I love you and Thank you for sticking with me in these very tumultuous times.  And, to all the other helpers we have - Mom, Dad, Robin, Ryah, Margie and Norbert, Thank YOU!!
Life would be impossible without you all.

So.... there are no pictures of my 24-hours of freedom, just great memories in my mind.
Kids - if and when you are reading this..... no offence.  Seriously.  Let's talk when you have kids.

Love and Big Hugs.
-Laurie oxoxox

NOW you're three

Dear Ruby,

Now you are finally three.
You've been with us for three whole years!!
My how you've grown.
Thanks for always being honest and keeping me on my toes.

Love,
Mom oxox

We had a wonderful time celebrating Ruby's third birthday with friends and family on Sunday.   Here are some pics..... 

The Birthday Girl.

We let the balloons lose in the room and everyone had so much fun playing with them.  I figured if they were tied up in a corner as a decoration it would just cause trouble.  Actually, it was Ryan's idea and it was a good one.  Good job Daddy.

Waiting for the guests to arrive.  

Thankfully, the gift we got her was well liked.  :)  Phew.  

She received a lot of fantastic gifts.  Ironically, opening presents is often a stressful time for kids (and parents).  I've seen kids cry at their own party.  Kids just want to play with their new toys as they open them but the party rules dictate we must open everything from everyone, say 'thank you' and move along to the cake.  Would it be rude to just let the kid play with the first gift they opened for as long as they want and send a thank you card for the rest?  Hm.  Food for thought.  Maybe we should change the party protocol.

Elliott, Kate, Fern, (Jason) Ruby, Leo, (Grandma).  

(Not sure why the adults are in brackets.)

Smiling so sweetly.

Sunny and Kathryn. 

So, the party's over.  Everything but the 'happy birthday' sign is put away.  Ruby's three.  We missed Aimee at the party this year, but her mom, Sherri was here with Kate and Elliott.  As you see in the pictures, some new friends brought life to the party - Kathryn, Jason, Fern and Sunshine.  Thanks for coming everyone!  See you all next year!

I wonder how Four is going to be?

-L

a split second

It's amazing how quickly something terrible can happen.  One minute everything is great and the next - not so great.  Leo fell down the stairs yesterday.  All the way from the top, down 8 solid wood stairs, to the basement.  I saw the whole thing happen in slow motion.  It was awful.

Miraculously, he's fine.  He had two very big bumps on his forehead yesterday that didn't look good at all but they seem to have gotten better overnight.  It's amazing.  I thought he would wake up black and blue today but he's pretty much back to normal.

Handsome as heck despite the red bumps. 

Sorry Leo.  The only one to blame is me for not locking the gate.  Thank God you're ok because I would not be ok if you were not ok.  So, let's just take it easy and stay ok for the next 18 years.  OK?


Speaking of ok.....
Here's a picture of Ruby after the third or fourth day of school.

Learning to drive early.  

It's been two full weeks and things are not going as well as I would like.  Week one was aces.  Everything was totally cool.  Week two - Ruby "doesn't want to go to school anymore".  Ryan drops her off in the morning and every morning this week it's been a struggle.  I realize that it's perfectly normal for kids to have a difficult time during a transition like this but that doesn't make it any easier.  She's happy when I pick her up two hours later and the teachers assure us that she's doing great and cheers up after a few minutes, but I still feel guilty.  I've been thinking about this a lot and here's what I've come up with -  There's a lot of pressure on Ruby right now to grow up quickly.  We've told her that she has to give up her soother when she turns three; that she has to poop on the potty at three; and now she has to get up and rush off to school every morning.  No wonder she's protesting.   Maybe we should back off and give her some slack.  I want her to look forward to turning three.  I  honestly think she's dreading it.  Remember a few posts back when I took her to see the preschool and she was puzzled because she thought she had turned three without any notification?  That was a sign.  She's stressed.  And.... she's not even three yet!  

OK, that's it.  Pressure off.  

Tune in next time to see what fun we'll have at her party!  

Preschool

Ruby woke up this morning and the first words out of her mouth were, "I'm going to school today!"
It was nice to hear her so excited and our morning routine was pretty smooth.  Well, I guess it's not exactly a routine yet, but it needs to become a routine.  Quickly.  And, it needs to become a quick routine.  So, with that said, here's our little school girl.

It was very bright outside.  

There was a minor kerfuffle getting out the door, but the twelve-minute drive turned things around.  She hopped out of that vehicle, beaming ear to ear, and walked into the place like she owned it.  Both Ryan and I were astonished.  She hardly looked at us.  I managed to snap a few shots before disappearing into the dust with Leo and Ryan.

Our little girl is all grown up and attending preschool.  The report from her teacher, Miss Tara, is that Ruby briefly noticed that I was not there at 10:30 a.m., two hours after her arrival.  She asked of my whereabouts, was content with her teacher's reply and continued on merrily until I returned at 11 a.m.

During my quiz about her morning, I discovered that she has no recollection of anyone's name, (except her friend Elliott who she's known all her life), not even the names of her two teachers.  I wouldn't be surprised if she hadn't noticed there were other kids in the room.  She is used to being numero uno and getting lots of one-on-one from the grown-ups in her life.... so this is going to be a big challenge for Ruby.  I'm not worried though.  She'll pick up on the flow of things and go with it.

Tomorrow's task is to get the teacher's names.  

Ruby's oldest friend, Elliott.  

So, here we are at another turning point in our lives.  I think I'm going to grow more and more fond of September over the years.  I like September.  Yes!  I really, really love September!

.... is summer over?

We just got back from our (what is becoming annual) vacation on PEI.  Last year's weather wins the contest, but despite four days of rain, we got busy and had fun.


The night everyone arrived marked a very special occasion .  Three generations of Grant men were in attendance.  This hasn't happened in a long, long time but fingers crossed that it will again soon.
All of these people are stars as far as I'm concerned.  Each one has unique gifts and personality traits but my goodness, their similarities are proof that DNA is indeed a very powerful force.  If Leo were to move away tomorrow, chances are high he would grow up with the ability to tell long, long stories, develop a deep love of music, play football, be fairly neat and tidy (with the exception of perhaps a tendency to pile dirty laundry on his bed), and have a pretty good head of hair for many years to come.
(This trait skipped Trevor for some reason but the others have an abundance).   Here they are:

Ryan, Leo, Robert, Bill and Trevor Grant.

As you can tell, our family from Saint John was there again this year.  Papa and Nanlynn were just two doors down and Ruby made a quick habit of running down every morning right after breakfast.  I think she actually woke them up on Saturday!

Giggles with Nanlynn.  (this is not breakfast!)

Ruby and her Papa.

Peering at the water down by the shore on one of our long walks.  

Coming in for a hug.  Sweetness.  

Me and my babies. 

Leo and Ryan hamming it up.

It's become clear that this is a tradition we would love to keep up.  If only we could reserve sunny weather.  I'd pay extra for that but I guess it's part of the parcel.  Summer can't last forever.  We left home for vacation during summer and returned in the fall.  The weather has taken a pretty steep drop in temperature this week and that familiar autumn smell is in the air.  So... let's get out our toques and put away the sandals..... it's transition time.

-Laurie Grant

the colour purple

Leo has his first shiner.

Shiner on the right eye.

It's difficult to see in this photo, so I took about 30 more photos.  It was difficult to see in all of them so this is the best shot of him saying "cheese" for the camera.

Ruby clocked Ryan in the eye with her head tonight so he and Leo may have matching black eyes by morning!

We're getting up tomorrow and heading to PEI again for a cottage vacation in Rustico.

Can't wait!  :)