It's a sad day...

A friend gave me four or five boxes of clothes last night for my kids, so I sat down and went through all the boxes and ooohhed and ahhhed over the cutest clothes and set aside everything I would need and then put the rest back in the boxes to send over to the community living drive at my hubby's work. It was fun, but brought mixed emotions for me.

As I was putting waway clothes into boxes for later, I realized I still had a box full of maternity clothes. My hubby had the snip, snip back in June, so I don't really know why I was hanging on to them, but there they were. I shipped them off to the community living drive as well. It was a final moment for me. No more kiddies. No more baby moments. No more newborn smells. It made me sad. But then I remembered a friend of mine is having a baby very soon so it works out well because I can just smell her baby instead. Haha!

Anyway, back to the kids clothes. I had borrowed these same clothes for Aiden when he was a baby. So I was looking through all these clothes that he wore in the past and it was just so sweet to see his brother in the same clothes. It is so interesting to see how different they look and just how much they are different people!

Aiden

Micah

I have been discovering the full extent of what it is really like to raise boys. Up until just recently, they have been so...babyish. Aiden is now three, and Micah is 14 months. So they are growing up, and things are changing!

Gone are the nice quiee afternoons to myself while the kids are napping. Aiden hes given up his naps and will now bounce to and fro, building towers, reading books, and watching the Backyardigans - his favourite. Occassionally, and I DO mean occassionally, he will have "quiet time" where he will sit on the couch and watch a movie and just be quiet. It's heavenly!

Micah is becoming more and more of a kid. Climbing is his number one favourite activity and it keeps me on my toes. Yesterday he learned how to climb up the couch cushions so he can reach the window sill to look out. Remind me that under the window is not a good place for that couch to be!

But most of all they are busy playing with each other. I can already see the hitting, pushing and shoving and beating each other up that boys are known for. I really hope that is is just a stage, but growing up with 2 brothers, I know it likely will last.

Maybe it's just a way for them to show each other love? I sure hope so! 

The Play Park

Okay, I know it has been a while since I blogged. I guess that is going to be the way it is. I used to be able to blog every day but now I guess I will be one of those once a month or maybe twice if you are lucky bloggers. That bites!

I just wanted to give kudos today to whoever decided to move the play area at the Regent mall. My son calls it the "play park" so that is what I will refer to it as from now on. I must admit, I never really noticed the play park much when it was located near Toys R Us. Maybe because my boys were both too young to play on that sort of thing, or maybe it was because we didn't really go to the mall all that often. But one day we went to the mall and I found myself looking for it. We followed the directions to get there and we were very impressed!

I love its new location. It is enclosed so nicely so that your kiddos can run around to their hearts desire and they won't be getting into the way of shopper's carts or running into stores. It is located right next to a bathroom so it is easy to take those bladders to the bathroom when they need to go. 

I love the add ons that they have recently put in. The "train" of gaes keeps older kids entertained while their younger siblings are playing - but they keep the younger kiddos happy as well! It took me a while to figure out what the chalkboard looking one was all about, but when I got close enough to see that it was a rub and find, it really intrigued me AND my kids!

Best of all, I love the benches. Not one, not two, but three (and sometimes four!) Oh, how wonderful it is for a tired mom or dad to be able to sit down for a minute while their overly excited children run, jump and play!

Yes, we like the play park. So much so that sometimes, when it is a blah day - and too cold outside to play - we hop on the bus and head on over to the mall to play for awhile. It might not always be great on mommy's pocket book, but the kids sure enjoy it!