My step-father and I were reminiscing tonight about the time that the whole family (My mom, my sister, my step-dad, my two step-brothers and I) were living in the garage that was temporarily made into a livable space. The six of us were crammed into a garage that my mom and step-dad converted into a three bedroom space. I shared a single bed with my sister for close to a year. I bring this up not for pity but because as he was talking about all the things we didn't have (like a bath or any sort of privacy) or the constantly leaking roof or etc, and all I could recall were the good memories I had of that year. My step-brother worked for Pizza Hut so every Friday night we'd go rent a movie at Blockbuster and we'd get some Pizza Hut for supper. We'd gather in the kitchen to eat our pizza and watch the movie on the 28'' TV that was mounted (MacGyvered I should say) in the top corner of our "kitchen/dining area/place where only the table fit". I remember the wall by the phone that was just gyprock that we'd leave messages for each other on and that had all our important phone numbers. I clearly remember the request line for C103 was up there, a few of mine and my sister's boyfriends (some had big scratch marks across as we lived out our teenage love lives) and many free hand drawn Marvel heroes drawn by my step-brothers who are amazing artists. I remember all of us in my parents' bedroom that had their bed on the floor (it was the only thing that fit in that room) and hearing my mom swear for the first time in front of us and all of us cracking up pee our pants out loud. I'm sure it must have sucked to share a bathroom and a shower with 5 other people and I'm sure it was probably uncomfortable to share a single bed with my sister but I don't remember ANY of that stuff... I just remember the good times. So tonight, while the boys were having a we-only-had-a-one-hour-nap-today meltdown, I decided to take them outside in the rain and run around with them. Sure their clothes would get wet, sure I would get wet, but the boys sure had fun. We came in, got them undressed and found some clothes in the future clothes bins I keep at my mom's house, their wet clothes went in the dryer and all was well (except for the fact that they had wanted to stay outside so the tantrum started over again...) They probably won't remember any of this as they're only 20 months old, but my plan is to keep doing silly things with them as I know it's the good stuff they'll remember. Isn't that what's important? Not the leaky roofs or cramped spaces but the traditions we will make with our family.
It was a rough afternoon! Not only were they super tired, but we were pretty much trapped inside because of the rain. I'm glad we went to my mother's house to at least give them a change of scenery and have more hands on deck! We came home, changed their bums and straight to bed they went as they just couldn't handle life anymore! They're all a little sick with a cold and we think that Zachary has a hard time breathing when he's sleeping because he sucks his thumb which prevents air flow through his mouth so his stuffed up nose is the only thing breathing... that's probably what woke him up one hour into their afternoon nap. During the naps, if one baby wakes up, it's over for the other two so everyone's nap was cut short today which was the catalyst to the afternoon tantrums.
We had a great week with the boys except for little Jacob who's being a super sensitive don't take stuff from me or tell me no little boy. He'll get upset and cry about something and his anger and screeching can last for 30 minutes... until we finally find something to get him to snap out of it. My sister came to help me out on Tuesday and my mom met up with us at the park in the afternoon and my mom came to help me out on Thursday. I'm glad I have an amazing family who's willing to give me a hand because I think I'd go nutso alone, even if it's only two days a week. They're a lot of work at this age!
Yesterday Gabe and I took them to the market and to the Mosaiq Multicultural Festival in the morning. The boys went bouncing in the bouncy castle very early before all the big kids could get there and we watched some Russian, Indian and Asian dancers at the market. We went back in the afternoon and we watched more dancers, saw a few Chinese dragons, got their arabic name written on their arm, they played a hula hoop game (or tried very hard) and petted a bird that the military tent men had just randomly found wounded. Of course they screamed "PUPPY" every 5 minutes and they just loved all the colors, people, smells and sounds. Creating great memories one day at a time...
Here are the pictures of the week:
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| I dusted off the triple stroller to take them (and myself) for walk in the early morning. |
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| This is a picture of my solo walk through Mapleton Park... how pretty eh? |
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| We went to see the ducks at Centennial park on Thursday afternoon |
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| Playing with our bubble wands |
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| Jacob having a moment with Pépère |
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| We took over the bouncy castle. I love Sam's face in this one |
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| And I love the running pose of Zachary in this one |
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| The hula-hoop game... it was pretty interesting! |
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| Running in the rain with Zachary and Jacob. Samuel came out once but is less interested in getting wet... |
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| We tried to sit them down to watch a cartoon to calm them down... this worked for 3 minutes. Imagine having to force your children to watch TV... and they still wouldn't do it... This makes me happy that they're not TV dependent and sad that I don't really have the TV at my disposal as a babysitter helper...lol |
Have a good week everyone! xox
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