Well let me just start by saying a great big THANK YOU to everyone who remembered and doted upon our Little Man Cael for his 4th birthday.  He is a happy and healthy four year old, and we couldn’t be more grateful and proud.

It’s a bittersweet occasion, and I think I can safely speak for Courtney too when I say that we just can’t believe how quickly the time went.  It seems like only yesterday when I had a newborn and a toddler each occupying a spot on each hip, with a beautiful 7 year old ray of sunshine to compliment them both.  It’s like the magic of movie makers where they can somehow cram a person’s entire lifetime into a two hour film.  Yep, that’s about how it feels.

So now Cael is four and he is learning social graces along with being more descriptive in his conversation…and sometimes more colourful.  That being said, we had a moment like that here this morning.  Yesterday little man had his birthday party with his friends and later had Godparents, family and friends in.  He opened a present from Auntie Whit which was received quite well.  It was a Sponge Bob Square Pants  game called, “Ants In Your Pants”.  He was very happy to see that and couldn’t wait to play it.  So we agreed that today would be a better day to play that game seeing as we had company last night.

So after breakfast I’m getting ready to go through the toys and put in batteries and set up games when Cael comes up to me and says, “Hey Mom!  Let’s play Hands in your Pants!”

Uh-huh.  Ok, well try and keep a straight face on that one.  Here’s a sobering thought, picture him continuing to get this wrong (which he has despite my efforts all day)  and tells everyone he knows, and at school about this great new game he plays with his family.  Yeah, how long do you think before child services bangs down our door!  Sheesh, out of the mouthes of babes for sure.

Yes my darling, we did have 25 souls brave the weather last year, with an additional 15 making the grand party total an impressive 40 considering the weather conditions. (I had very little food left over too…so that was a good thing!) Hopefully I’ll have to make more this year.

Yes, it’s true, the iPod Nano has finally arrived. WOW! Is that thing ever slick. I saw the pictures, I saw the ads, I saw it in the Apple Store, but to have it unencumbered by security tethers, and busy marketing, it really is an impressive little gadget. I look forward to saving up to buy my own. I’m afraid though that getting my carpets cleaned may take priority over that. Ah well, I can live vicariously through Jordynn, right? Wrong. I still want one.

Btw: in addition to the above, I need to make mention of the pure glee that came over her face when she found out it arrived. The squeaking of joy, and attempts at muffling screams was really precious. Again, I’m so proud of her. Way to go Jordy…you do kick butt! (that was what she had engraved on her Nano). Love ya baby.

Well, today was my first duty day of the year. I missed my first one due to Quinners having a bug, but today Cael and I got to go without any problem. This year is considerably structured in comparison to last year. I will say that I saw a side of Cael that only an environment like that could have unveiled. We were sitting at circle time and Cael was asked to be first to stand in circle so we could sing about his clothes for “black and orange” day today. We all sang and he just stood there. (You’re supposed to jump while others sing for you.) Then he stopped and said, “Miss Shelley, you forgot my mother.” Well that just wouldn’t do so we did it all again with mom in the middle jumping too. Very sweet. Then we went around the circle and sang, “My name is….” and the child is supposed to sing his/her name. Well after Cael was done, he interupted the whole song for the next person to tell Miss Shelley, “You forgot my mother!” Poor Miss Shelley. She was so sweet about it all. Nothing could happen without including me. It was “our” day at preschool, and I was like a preschooler in his eyes, rather than a duty person. You can imagine the melted puddle I was after the sweet and adorable consideration Cael gave to me.

When the whole 22 kids, teachers, and duty parents went out to play in the leaves I had this “Ahhh that’s so cute” moment while I watched Cael hold the hand of one of the pretty little twins in his class. Then when we got there, he was holding the hand of the other pretty little twin. As we were walking back into the school, he was holding BOTH their hands. Then all of a sudden this sweet little girl (not one of the twins) came running up to me and wrapped her arms around my legs crying. One of the teachers seemed to know the problem and scooped her up and said to me, “She’s upset with the twins.” Turns out she wanted to be holding Cael’s hand too. Her mom arrived then while the tears were falling and she locked eyes with me. I just looked at her and said, “Oh, I’m so sorry!” What gives man! Who does Cael think he is anyway… Austin Powers? He’s moving and shakin’ at the preschool. Lord help us when he gets older. I said to one of the teachers, “It may seem that there will need to be some sit-down discussions happening at our house!” I kid I kid, but how heartbreaking for this little one that is trying to compete with twins…I mean really, Cael.

I do wonder how much of this is foreshadowing the future…..

Well it’s not much this time…(which is a shocker for me) but rather an observation from a grateful parent.

It’s amazing how you can always get caught up in your own bubble isn’t it? We just spent last night with Jordy ordering the iPod Nano. This procedure would probably take the average person about 5 minutes max to do (which includes the time it takes to pull out/locate the credit card). Anyway, it was so cute, and sweet, and downright refreshing to see a kid in this day and age get SO excited about working hard to save the money, and actually meet a goal…the old fashioned way. We’re so proud of her, and yes we are biased, but I think she’s one awesome and amazing kid. One we are very fortunate to have. I’ve been basking in her state of heightened responsibility and consideration for others, which is all too often a rarity for the average 12 year old. One can only hope that other parents are reaping the same rewards with their pre-teens.

Then you get a reality check…

This week I found a letter in Quinn’s school bag saying that there was “an incident” at the neighbouring high school that kept the kids indoors at his elementary school. No details, and probably just as well. The day after Jordynn tells us that a grade seven boy left her school in handcuffs. He was arrested for slugging his teacher. Apparently this is the same kid who last year was in grade six at Quinn’s school and put the place into lock down with death threats. It was rumoured he had a hit list. Somehow they let that kid move into the high school with the rest of our children.

All this post is meant to say is simply this:

Savour those glowing moments with your kids. Give them street sense…encourage them to listen to their guts, and above all, go easy on the good ones when they let you down. They live in a harsher world than we did and danger is closer than we allow ourselves to believe sometimes.