Happy Birthday Grady!

Today Grady is three years old. For fun I have been posting on facebook a play by play of what went down three years ago. Because I am not having anymore babies and because my baby really is a little boy now. He starts preschool in a week!

These photos were inspired by something I pinned on Pinterest (what's pinterest you ask? google it, it is a great online addiction to keep track of all the things you like). I know amazing that someone actually did something with a picture they pinned. In fact I have done several things so yah for me

All of this fantastic photography was done by http://www.ultravioletphoto.com/ (I would do one of those cool links with the words I write but I don't know how, if you do and use blogger please feel free to email me :D)

My sister is an A-Mazing photographer, you should hire her, I have never had a referral regret it!

I got the balloons from http://www.balloonscanada.com/ . Ashif didn't ask me to plug him I just think they were so awesome that I ought to give them credit.

Grady loved the balloons and we did the shoot at Reader Rock Garden. I had never been there before. We didn't go beyond the first garden so we definitely must go back. It was a beautiful place!

I love the photos Amanda got and I love that I have such an amazing photographer on call. Grady had lots of fun and we got to enjoy a fun hour at a beautiful park.

Now on to the good stuff! Although today is THE actual day we celebrated on Sunday so that our family and friends could come. We kept it small and only invited friends at the last minute after Grady insisted that there should be some there. It was so much fun to plan a party for him that he was 100% excited about and involved in making the decisions.

This is Grady opening his first official present. From Grandpa Bob and Gramma Linda. Another inspiration from pinterest!

Can you guess what it is yet? I sent the photo to my mom since Bob is a plumber and I figured he would know how to get PVC pipe and fittings and cut them all to usable sizes.

Grady taking part in the decisions of which pieces to use, although I think for the first bit Dad will be the builder (he is a civil engineer after all) until Grady learns more about getting the pieces together on his own.

Now do you get it? It is a jumbo build your own fort set! The one I saw on pinterest was fixed into one shape permanently but we thought it would be more fun if you could make whatever your imagination could come up with.

Throw some blankets over top and voila! Fort! Or for outdoors we are planning on using the tarps we have from tenting now that we own a trailer.

And then it was party time!

Here are Emma and Grady modelling the party favours I made. I know! I know, Awesome! I call them Mohawk Hooded Towels, but most of the kids and adults thought they looked more like bird plumage. I will post later how to make them. Super easy!

Pool party! Lucky we had several warm days before Sunday so I didn't have to add any hot water the pool. Our yard is slopped so we can't keep the pool totally full but we have about 18inches of water which was more that enough for the littlest and biggest party goers to get wet.

What do you think? Mohawks or Chickens?

Three kids in a tub...

Grady was a lot more adventurous in the pool than he has been thanks to the fearless example set by Emma who told me she "already knows how to swim". To which her mom added "even though she doesn't start lessons til next month!" lol

Alexa took over the floater and was hard pressed to leave it. Looks comfy! I wouldn't leave either :D

Testing out the fort, Daddy made the biggest structure he could come up with. Although I did hear some musing that he ought to take inventory of all the fitting and pipe lengths so that he can design something that uses the most pieces possible. If you are married to an engineer you know...

Of course if you know Grady you know a day is not complete unless we all see his butt! So he stripped because that is the best way to enjoy one's backyard pool! And then mercifully it was time for cake

DQ did a pretty good job even though they had no idea what a digger was and I had to drop off a picture. Grady loved it and that is all that matters!

Pure anticipation for cake!

A great birthday ends with cake. Thank you to everyone who attended. I will spare you the gift opening photos but know that Grady was spoiled and so was Mommy with the 3+ hours of quiet play that happened after everyone went home.

We are lucky to have such great family and wonderful friends. Here's to the joy that THREE will bring :D

A Wristband Makes for a Dizzy Mommy

Another successful day at the Calgary Zoo! Grady and I went on a whim this morning and I think this may be the first time we have gone just the two of us. It was a little cool when we got there but I always think that is great because you get to see more animals moving around, for example the Collared Peccary was up and about and the Anteaters were also active.

We rounded out our trip with a picnic lunch and a peek at a few animals plus about 60% of the elephant talk. It was very interesting if slightly x-rated due to an amorous Spike. It was a little long for little ones but Grady is not yet interested in touching the artefacts or learning anything yet, there was a very large group of people enjoying it.

Ride ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR! Whew at least I didn't have to ride the train too!

But the majority of our trip involved the purchase of a ride wristband for $5 rather than a single ride for $3. But what I was prepared for was the multiple trips in a row! Grady rode the Carousel a total of 5 times, first two in a row and then three in a row. So after three rides in a row even though Grady wanted to keep going I had to call it quits. It seems to me that Grady is old enough to ride by himself but the giraffes chin at the zoo says different, I’m sure there is some research behind that decision, maybe next year he will be tall enough but I think he was at least a few inches off.

Carousel rides ONE TWO and FOUR

THREE

FIVE! Now you see why I was getting motion sick!

Then Grady was kind enough to let me sit for a while until the world stopped spinning (I kid it wasn’t that bad but I definitely felt motion sick). He played on the toddler playground right near the Train and Carousel, then we went home stopping for a soft ice cream to share on our way to the exit.

I can’t wait for what our next zoo trip brings! I think we are going to try and make it to a story time.

Fabric Box, Sewn by Mom Designed by Grady

 Fabric Boxes you say? I was strapped for ideas for Grady's Grandma G's birthday present at the end of July as she had said that she didn't want anything. Well you can give someone nothing can you? Especially not Grandma. And since she is the one who got me into sewing and is a big quilter herself I thought maybe Grady could paint or dye some fabric for her and then she can use it later for a project. So that is what we did. I bought some fabric from the bargin centre and a tie-dye kit from Michaels and stripped Grady down and let him go to work in the back yard. There was lots of fabric so I cut a piece off to use for two upcoming birthdays. Grady's Great Aunt Annette and Great Grandmother or Grammie as we call her. Grandma G still go a nice big piece and Grady's handiwork would be enjoyed by all those special ladies.

As you can see Grady also got a hand in while I was sewing the boxes, or hats as he felt they ought to be! I used the hand dyed fabric for the exterior and then one of Grady's old flannel swaddle blankets for the interior.

They turned out pretty cute in the end and I thought a very nice way to keep those things you most care about warm with the love of a neice/grandaughter and grand-nephew/great-grandson! ONe has already been set off overseas and I hope to hear soon how much Auntie Annette is enjoying it. The other will travel to PEI in September for Grammie's 95th birthday. And although we were able to be there for either birthday we are definitel sending our love.

See awesome hat!

If I were to do it again:
-Dye and toddlers aren't the greatest mix, Grady had black feet and hands for about a week
-I would have Grady make more hand and footprints

What do you think of our fabric hats boxes?

"Ruff"

I have realized that it has been a long time since I have blogged about the dogs in our family and the inspiration for the title of our blog Ruff Ruminations. Another blogger was considering recently adding a furry member to her already very full household and it inspired me to write a bit more about our life with kid and dogs.

We have two dogs. Our first dog came after much convincing (about 4years) and moving into our own home. Brian never wanted a dog and I have always wanted one. We had one briefly growing up but she was hit bit a car while we were on vacation and we were never able to convince my mom to go for it again. In fact I was so adamant about owning a dog that I told Brian in no uncertain terms that if there was not a puppy in our future then there was no future!

And so we welcomed Rebar into our home. We got her as an 8 week old puppy from a lady in Okotoks who had a purebred labrador female that her husband desperately wanted to breed so their vet matched them up with another family with a pure bred male labrador. Rebar was the low price of $400 from the bargain finder as she would not be a registered purebred. I chose her because she was big, and cute and seemed to like me. I faked sick that day to drive out to Okotoks and pick her out trying to surprise Brian but the surprise was ruined when he called me to inquire about the large cash withdrawl from our account! In any case he came home that night to a new puppy who was just to darn cute to resist. Below is my absolute favorite photo of Rebar. She is an old soul even though she is 6 years old and she has always been calm, docile and loving from the start. Her sweet nature permeates so much that I have had strangers stop me and ask if she ever breeds. But we got her fixed at 6 months so no, even though the vet remarked she had an extra long uterus (not sure what we supposed to do when we heard that, ask for it to be put back?).

Little Miss Mardi Gras, or Mardi for short. Came into our lives because many of our friends with dogs did a fantastic job convincing us two was better AND easier than one. This is a bold faced lie! And the reason I tell everyone why we are sticking to one kid! Fool me once...Basically there is no guarntee the dogs will play together or require the same level of exercise. And like our dogs they could end up with opposite personalites. But they are figuring it out and Rebar, true to her nature, is very much like Nana from Peter Pan. She is motherly with Grady and Mardi, always stepping in when needed.

In any case Mardi is a rescue from Hurricane Katrina, she is a the product of the abandoned dogs roaming the streets when their families had to leave. Mardi is and was a handful, but she is my favorite (I know your not supposed to have favorites, another good reason for only one kid!) She just has such personality! Mardi will never start a fight but she sure as heck will finish it and doesn't take kindly to anyone stepping out of line! Unfortunately sometimes the slightest growl or over zealous sniff from another dog can set her off. Lucky for us she listen well and we are very aware of her triggers. We are proactive about when and how we walk her off leash and do our best to ensure nothing happens (so don't judge!) Mardi is so very protective that I had to stop walking her when I was pregnant because she was extra on edge. There is just something about her eyes that are so expressive, you swear she is trying to communicate to you! I don't have a favorite photo yet of Mardi but here is one that shows her off pretty good.

Pros to Dogs and Kids:

-they play well together once they learn to play together

-Grady loves to pretend to be a dog and fetch is as exhausting for him as for the animals

-they bring unconditional love to your family

-they teach how to care for someone

-they show us the importance of being a group

-they clean up the little messes

Cons:

-they cost more than you expect sometimes

-they don't always like the kids

-there are many places you can't take them, even while camping. E.G. On far away vacation, the beach, to other people's homes

-kids and dogs together mean lots of mess. Spilled food, broken toys,shedding, kids attempting to "feed" dogs etc

-it is hard to walk dogs with a toddler because inevitablly someone doesn't get enough excercise

I'm sure there are more things to add to each list but those are some basics. Other things I have learned:

-babies and dogs are a good mix, because you can put babe in the stroller and exercise the dogs and the dogs are very watchful of the baby. For example Rebar used to follow whoever was hold Grady if it was not me to make sure they were doing the job right! She was definitely out of sorts the first time he was fed pumped milk from a bottle.

-kids age 2-5 and dogs don't mix the kids are too unpredictable for the dogs and you are too used to how good the dog was when the kid was a baby.

But I won't give up the dogs unless I absolutely HAD to. We have zero tolerance to snapping by the dogs and hitting by the kid. Growling is encouraged, in fact we had to teach Rebar to growl because she was so sweet she didn't know how, but it is necessary to allow Grady to understand they dogs have had enough. I look forward to the many years we have left with Mardi and Rebar!

Camping Aug 11-14 Brewers Campground

We made it out camping again :D Yah! We went out a day earlier than everyone else and if not for dodgeball might have gone even longer. Our friends the Freckletons and LeBlancs were meeting us out there for the weekend. This is (I believe) my first time to Brewers Provincial Campground on Gull Lake. Lindsay was nice enough to book all the spots side by side for everyone. It was a lovely campground and if we were to go again I would book closer to the lake.

Grady resting (not napping, that doesn't happen anymore no matter how much we wish for it!)

The trailer quilt complete! I did some hand tying while camping to finish it off, I still have to figure out how I want to tack down the larger geese peices as machine quilting a wool blanket for batting is super hard work!

Alexa being nice enough to play on Grady's bed since Francis wouldn't

Now you can see why Francis wouldn't play on the bed when Thomas was out!

Best "smile" on demand photo yet!

Alexa has a go at Thomas

This sequence of photos is how to get two toddler boys to stand for one photo. Step #1 chase them into the same area

Step two get them close together, not sure why Grady covered his head with his shirt but there you go!

Step 3 closer still please boys!

Step four allow for one last burst of silly!

And Voila! Two Buds. We'll have to take a similar shot every few years for cuteness!

More antics!

How to keep a toddler busy while you pack up? One parent pack, the other toss the kid around!

My big boy! A camping pro!

Apparently I lied about the napping part! Be careful what you wish for because it might come at 6pm at night after 4 days of camping.