Four

Silas turned 4 today.

I can't believe how quickly he's growing up.  I can clearly remember the March morning that he was born.  I feel nostalgic about him becoming a big boy and yet if there wasn't another baby on the way I think I would feel much more sad about the rapid passing of time and how quickly we have entered a different phase as a family.

There are many great things I could say about this boy.  He is SO loveable.  And the fact that he doesn't want to sit still and snuggle anymore makes us want to squeeze him all the more :)  He's a true third child - making everyone laugh at the right moments and keeping the whole family entertained by his charm and silliness.  

And we're not sure whether he comes by it naturally or if it's a result of having an older brother who is into all things hockey, but this boy loves his stick and puck.  

On rainy days he spends his time on the kitchen floor, mini-stick in hand and ball flying.  On sunny days, he takes me out to the street to show me his "slap-shot", "back-hander" and how he can shoot the ball through the "5-hole".  The phrase I hear about 25 times a day is: "Mom, watch the replay!" and then I have to patiently wait while he does a slow-motion reenactment of whatever amazing play just occurred...

He shoots...

He scores!!

He doesn't have much patience for toys and imaginary play, but give the kid a ball or a swing or a shovel or a bike and he'll be happy as a clam.  He's an outside kid through-and-through.  This year he learned to pump his legs on the swing and ride a pedal bike (he's already graduated from the strider we gave him last year).  He's also a natural at hockey - so Erik says - and can keep up with Micah and the neighbour boys.

I may not share his affinity for sports but I am definitely in love with my little Siley-bear.  I think I'm going to miss having him as my "baby", and when he goes off to preschool in the fall I might be a bit lost without his silly charm.

Happy birthday Silas!

Three

My baby turns 3 today.


He's pretty excited about it.


And he was so willing to comply with my picture taking this morning, that I went a little nuts and took a LOT of pictures.


"I'm fwee!"


I decided to do a repeat of last year's "2" photo shoot and get some good pictures of him with the number 3 (thanks to the Ross school playground.)


Getting acquainted with his new favourite number...

Aside from the typical 2-year-old (or 3-year-old) behaviour, Silas is a super lovable kid. I honestly could just eat him up most days. He chatters nonstop and says super cute stuff all the time. The kid is FULL of personality.

(Fall 2011)

(Fall 2011)

Right now Silas' loves being outside, even if he's by himself. There are piles of rocks to climb on, puddles to dig around in and a trampoline to jump on. And the other day when I peeked out the window to check on him, there he was with his pants and undies down at his ankles, peeing away on the gravel driveway. He's a farm boy all right.

A few other things Silas loves right now:

- basketball (I have to keep reminding him not to bounce it in the house - poor Grandma & Grandpa below us hear enough noise as it is!)

- any outdoor sports no matter how cold it might be outside

- movies (this is a bit of an issue that we need to work through as he loves them way too much and thinks that as soon as we get home from anywhere it's time to put in a movie...)

- drinking his milk in a "pwincess cup"

- dressing up in costumes

And, a true 3rd-born, he loves doing everything his big brother and sister do and is catching up with them more and more. The baby stage is long behind us now and Silas is really just one of the kids!

Happy birthday Silas. Mommy loves you!

She's Broke

The tooth fairy that is.

The teeth in this boy's mouth are dropping like flies.

And the tooth fairy is getting lazy.

Let me rephrase that, the male half of the tooth fairy is getting lazy. The other morning Micah woke up to realize that he was given the same little ziploc bag of coins that he had received just a few nights before. For a different tooth.

Yeah, you can't pull too many fast ones on this 6-year-old.

In other news, this is how we found Silas last night when he was supposed to be sleeping.

I'm thinking it might be time for a big boy bed...

Potty Humour

Potty training has begun. The candidate is prime, but the trainer (yeah, that's me) is having a hard time being 100% devoted to this process. We've had a few successes, but Silas has great bladder control which makes for fewer teachable moments throughout the day. And life still needs to go on for me and for the rest of our family so I can't always be "on" Silas at every moment. The afternoons kind of go downhill after he naps (in a diaper) and then we pick up the kids (also in his diaper) and then I just kind of let it slide since the older kids and dinner prep and all those other things are keeping me too occupied.

But the kid cracks me up. The first time he went successfully in the potty he thought it was hilarious...

The Fine Art of Dawdling

I'm trying to figure out how to make the school mornings less chaotic at our house. It doesn't matter how early we all wake up, it seems to take the e-n-t-i-r-e time to eat breakfast, get dressed and get out the door. There are 100 excuses in the book to keep these kids distracted from just doing what I'm asking them to do...

Micah is still having a tough time with school. Some mornings seem to go OK while others are filled with whining, excuses, tummy aches and teacher-peeling-him-off-of-my-body kind of good-byes at his classroom. Today was one of those mornings and I drove home feeling frustrated and discouraged.

Yet, every afternoon when I pick them up, Micah is in good spirits and eager to share about his day. So, I'm learning not to let the morning frustrations get to me. Instead I'm trying to enjoy my 6 hours with just ONE child.

And he's a handsome one.

I needed an updated photo of Silas for his child dedication coming up at the end of the month, so we headed out to the "backyard" for a few poses. I had a "he's-really-growing-up!" moment as I snapped some pictures.

One of my favourite thrift store finds ever has got to be this blazer/sport jacket combo. Thankfully Silas loves wearing it too :)


(And, come to think of it, these Gap jeans and Converse shoes were also from the thrift store!)

What are you doing on the ground Mommy?

With all the school drama I've nearly forgotten my next big challenge:

Potty-training this little elf...

I've learned a few things about dawdling myself.

In grown-up words, we call it procrastination.

I'll start potty-training...

eventually.

Poolside

Silas has spent some of his hot summer days cooling off in the froggy pool on Granny's deck. He isn't put off by freezing cold water. And true to his "I'm-a-3rd-child-and-I-can-do-everything-that-everyone-else-does," he's become a "jumper" -- off of stairs (like 2 at a time) off of kitchen chairs...

And off the edge of his pool...

Whoa! Was that ever fun!

And true to my "this-is-the-third-child" parenting style, I let the kid jump.

Morning Walk

Silas' sleeping has been all over the map since we've been here. He started off sleeping well at night and having 3 hour naps every day. That has been demoted to sleeping poorly at nights and having 45 minute naps. And then there was this week when he flat-out refused his afternoon naps.

And the boy is up early. Usually around 6 am.

Yesterday was no exception.

But the temperature read 28 degrees and it looked like there were storm clouds looming in the distance, so Silas and I went in search of some thunder.

After waiting 10 minutes for my camera to "de-fog" from the humidity, I was able to take a few shots of our little walk.

Dee-dee and puppy had to come along of course.

How can I resist this sweet little face...

A Walk to Remember

It was another week of adventure for our family that culminated with a very eventful walk in the park. I guess I wouldn't label it an adventure as much as a fearful-moment-in-motherhood-history, never-to-be-repeated-again kind of experience.

It started with a beautiful sunny morning. And a seemingly great idea to head to Fish Trap Creek for a walk with the kids. I foolishly thought to myself that I could get some exercise - Keziah on her bike, Silas in the stroller - so we should be able to move along at a relatively heart-rate-appropriate pace, right?

Wrong. It was more like, walk 10 feet, stop to look at ducks, walk 15 week, stop for Keziah to test her bike brakes, walk 6 feet, stop, look back and tell Keziah to keep peddling. Yes, honey, you actually have to keep your feet going round and round the whole time...

I quickly surrendered my need for a brisk walk and simply enjoyed the sunshine and fresh spring air. We even stopped at the big tree beside the big rock for a few pictures.

Hey, we even stopped for a little history lesson.

It was a little while later, when we were navigating the various little hills in the path, that I had the 'what-if' thought of Keziah steering herself off the path and down towards the water. She's a bit unsteady with her biking at this point and going up/down hills is not a strong point for her. The thought crossed my mind that, if she started going down while I was still pushing Silas, what would I do?

We rounded a few more corners and then Keziah steered herself off the curb a little too abruptly when a stroller was passing us. Her bike started toppling over and I let go of the stroller to catch it and console her after some minor leg scratches. I'm not sure how long it was before I thought to look over at the stroller, but by the time I did, it had slowly been rolling down a slight hill and heading off the path. I ran as fast as I could towards it but I knew I wouldn't catch it before it went off the trail and down the hill towards the water. I scrambled down after it, and managed to stop it (with the help of some nasty thorn-covered bushes that I am thanking God for!). Silas was obviously upset. Keziah was too - her own injuries quickly forgotten.

Now, my next challenge was getting Silas and the stroller back up the embankment. I wasn't quite sure how I was going to manage this. Thankfully a young couple rounded the corner in my moment of desperation. A tiny part of me felt embarrassed to be found in the ditch with my baby, but I was mostly just relieved. I passed Silas up first and then the stroller came up quite easily with the guy's help. The girl held Silas for another minute or two while I gathered up the items from my stroller that had been thrown out (including my camera).

Once I got back up to the path, took Silas in my arms and took a few steadying breaths, I thanked my helpers. They lingered for a moment - not sure how else to help me so I said something stupid like, "Ok, you're free to go!"

Silas was upset for a little while - understandably. His most-repeated phrases went something like this, "I go in the water sandals" (yes, I suppose it did seem as though he was rushing towards the water and about to go swimming fully-clothed) as well as, "People hold you!" (translation: he was more concerned about being held by strangers than the thrill ride down the hill).

Anyway. Heart-pounding stuff. Let's just say I will be MUCH more conscious about using my stroller brake from now on. And, for the rest of you stroller-pushers out there, consider this lesson learned. For all of us.

So then, about 5 minutes later, as we were headed towards the playground to redeem our very bad walk, my legs started stinging.

Like crazy.

It struck me how, in that moment, I didn't have to think about racing through those thorn-covered bushes with bare legs... Thankfully I had runners on, but I suspect that even if I was barefoot I wouldn't have hesitated. Amazing - those motherly instincts and the fact that I didn't feel the pain until the drama was over.

So, now... the aftermath.

I'm just hoping these scratches will heal up by the wedding in 2 weeks. Otherwise I'll be using make-up on more than just my face.

Light at the End of the Tunnel

Last Monday night we had a little celebration for our big boy Silas...

Happy Birthday-ing to Silas:

(Kristi, I sincerely apologize on behalf of your brother for the way this video ended...)

The cake might not look spectacular but it was DEE-licious!

(If I do say so myself.)

I used a banana cake recipe has been a Harder family favourite for a long time. It is so moist and cream-cheesy and delicious! I usually make it in a baking sheet, but this time I just did it in a 9 x 13 pan, then cut it in half and made a layered cake.

I can't remember if I've shared the recipe before, but it's worth sharing again...

BANANA BARS
1/2 cup margarine
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 ripe bananas

Cream margarine and sugar. Add eggs, sour cream and vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl and gradually add to creamed mixture. Stir in bananas. Spread into greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

FROSTING
Beat together:
1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese
1/2 cup margarine
2 tsp. vanilla
approx. 3-4 cups of icing sugar

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On Sunday, after a particularly stressful week, we decided we needed to take the kids and get out somewhere. Even though the weather has been miserable (seriously, is it still January??), we decided to brave the outdoors. We've always wanted to venture to the Othello Tunnels just outside of Hope and so that's where we headed. It definitely exceeded our expectations!

We hiked through the old train tunnels - so dark in the middle of some of them that it was a little frightening! And then we came out over top of a bridge with rushing water winding beneath us and towering walls of rock above us. Beautiful! We'll be going back there for sure.

Pausing for a little rock-toss before reaching the tunnels.

The mossy trees reminded me of something out of a Dr. Suess book.

The view as we came out of the first tunnel, looking towards tunnels 2 and 3.

Silas felt a little tentative here. I don't blame him. This narrow bridge was suspended over a 50 foot drop down into a raging river. Silas kept saying, "I see dat big-big water!!"

The things that make a mother's heart pound...

Othello tunnels get a "must-see in BC" from the Toews family!

Now we're looking for the light at the end of the tunnel with the sale of our house. The subject removal has been a little bit stressful and we are hoping and praying that the sale does not fall through! Hopefully I'll have a good update on that in my next post...