A night of firsts

Tonight is the first time I have ever had to pack Sebastian's backpack and prepare his lunch for school!! Can't believe that he's actually going to be starting junior kindergarten tomorrow!

Last week we went to Sebastian's new school (and when I say new, I mean new..it was just built) for an hour and met his teacher, who is wonderful, and starting tomorrow he'll be at school every other day full-day with alternate Fridays. He's supposed to be taking the bus but for now I'm okay with driving him. Our plan is to park near the school but far enough so that we can walk to get some exercise.

Anyways, I have no idea where the last 4 years have gone but what I do know is that come tomorrow morning Jamie & I will be driving our lil' guy to school. I've already forewarned him I may cry, but not to worry as I they will be tears of joy and pride for being the mother of such a wonderful boy. I also told him I will put a special note in his pocket so that if he gets worried or lonely throughout the day he can look at the paper and see all the hearts I've drawn to remind him how much his mommy and daddy love him and that we are thinking of him.

I know he'll be a superstar tomorrow.... As for me, I'm really going to miss him but I know that starting school is a rite of passage and Seb is definitely ready for it!

Whose Child Is This?

"Whose child is this?" I asked one day
Seeing a little one out at play.
"Mine", said the parent with a tender smile"
Mine to keep a little while.
To bathe his hands and comb his hair,
To tell him what he is to wear,
To prepare him that he may always be good,
And each day do the things he should".

"Whose child is this?" I asked again,
As the door opened and someone came in.
"Mine", said the teacher with the same tender smile.
"Mine, to keep just for a little while.
To teach him how to be gentle and kind,
To train and direct his dear little mind,
To help him live by every rule,
And get the best he can from school".

"Whose child is this?" I asked once more,
Just as the little one entered the door.
"Ours", said the parent and the teacher as they smiled.
And each took the hand of the little child.
"Ours to love and train together.
Ours this blessed task forever."

-Author Unknown-

Happy 4th Birthday Sebastian!!

I can't believe that it was 4 years ago today that Sebastian came into our lives! It's amazing how quickly the last 4 years have flown by and it's also amazing to think that in just 2 days our little guy is going to be going to kindergarten!! But of course, that's a whole other post!!

Anyways, we had a low key day celebrating all things Sebastian. Grandma and Grandpa, Nonee and Papa, and Aunt Becky and Uncle Dan all helped us celebrate the day. We have one more birthday celebration to go when we celebrate his birthday along with his Great Grandad (who's birthday falls on the date that was supposed to be Seb's due date!).

Overall it was a nice day spent with family and it's so nice having so many people in Sebastian's life who love him so unconditionally! Thank you!

Nana

Eleanor Doris Whitehouse
Friday December 3, 1926 - Monday September 13, 2010

On Monday September 13, 2010 the world lost a beautiful and wonderful lady, Sebastian's Great-Nana - Queen Eleanor.

We are so appreciative that he was able to experience 4 wonderful years with her and words cannot do any justice to explain the emptiness her passing has left in our lives.

We started referring to Nana as Queen Eleanor one day as Sebastian, Jamie & I were visiting her at home. Aunt Judy pushed Nana on Grandad's walker through the kitchen en route to the bathroom and as she passed us by we told Sebastian to wave to Queen Eleanor. Nana, hearing us, gave Sebastian the "Queen wave' and she continued to do so up until her last night with us.

In fact, it was 1 week ago today almost to the exact time that Nana gave us her last Queenly wave. As we held her tight for those extra few seconds saying good-bye and telling her how much we loved her, we turned around one more time as we were leaving the room to see her beautiful face. There was Nana lying in her bed giving us her Queenly wave.

Sleep well Queen Eleanor, you will always be in our thoughts, our hearts and in our dreams. We love you and miss you more than words can say.

Our Summer in Pics - Part 2

Posing as "angry" after having a haircut. I love this pic - shows off the little rebel within!
Silly faces!
Super Seb!
Yes, he knew it was summer!
African Lion Safari
African Lion Safari
African Lion Safari with friends
Donkey Sanctuary
Donkey Sanctuary
Camping, Guelph Lake
Camping, Guelph Lake
Train rides, Riverside Park
Carousal rides, Riverside Park
Toad in the garden

Our Summer in Pics - Part 1

Going for a trek in the conservation area behind our house...

And stumbled across these two!

Soccer!

Pinery Provincial Park

Pinery Provincial Park

Pinery Provincial Park

Silly Faces! Pinery Provincial Park

Farmer Seb!

Waterloo Regional Children's Museum

Summer

This morning we took Sebastian to a "bus orientation" session for the upcoming school year. It really wasn't anything too extensive. We watched a video on bus safety and then boarded a school bus to take a ride around the block. However, while riding the bus and noting to myself that I needed to blog about this, I also made a mental note that I really needed to sit down and provide an update on our summer and what we've been up to. I'm hoping this won't turn into an essay, but I won't make any promises.

First off, we've had a nice summer. It hasn't been too busy but it also hasn't been too lazy either. We've taken some time off of some of our favourite things, such as music class, but have continued with swimming lessons on Mondays, art classes on Thursdays in July and soccer lessons via Sportball Saturday mornings. When we're not doing that we've been little tourists in our own back yard.

Most of our summer has been spent exploring neighbourhood parks and hanging out with friends. I ran into an old friend/co-worker from Toronto at the local YMCA at the beginning of the summer and we've managed to get the kids to the park a couple of times together, which has been nice. We've also attended a few attractions in our area, namely the Donkey Sanctuary which is less than 10 minutes away and the African Lion Safari, which is about 25 minutes away. We spent Canada Day in Cambridge once again enjoying the parade and a bbq with friends and we've been to Riverside Park a couple of times to enjoy their carousel and train rides.

Another thing we've been doing this summer is gardening. We created our first garden earlier this year and have really enjoyed the bounty we've been getting. We've even discussed and started planning on how we're going to extend the garden for next year! We've also enjoyed going to St. Ignatius every Friday to pick up our CSA (community shared agriculture) share. While there we've enjoyed wagon rides throughout the farm on their Family Days and have enjoyed picking our own herbs and exploring their lovely grounds. The best part of all this though is Sebastian getting an appreciation of food and where it comes from. It's great watching him care for the garden and we absolutely love how much he enjoys eating the fresh veggies. If we're not careful he'll eat all the veggies before we even have a chance to have some!

And last but not least, we've managed two camping treks in this summer! Our first trek was to Pinery Provincial Park with friends in July and just this past weekend we went to Guelph Lake for a couple of nights. We really enjoyed the Pinery, as there are lots to do and the beach is absolutely beautiful, and it was great being able to go camping with friends. Their little one is a year younger than Sebastian & he thoroughly enjoyed having someone around to play with. It was great watching them get dirty and explore together and it also gave us a little down time, which is something we don't get much of when camping alone. Really looking forward to going again next year!

I'm sure there are more things to report on but these are the things that stand out the most for me at the moment. Can't believe how quickly the summer has flown by and that our lil' grub will be starting school on the 21st! Now we're looking forward to Ribfest this upcoming weekend, Seb's 4th birthday, the official first day of school, seeing Robert Munsch at the River Run Centre and an excursion north for a long weekend to enjoy the fall colours with Uncle Dan & Aunty Alice in October.

Sorry for the essay!! But if you've read through it I hope you've enjoyed it!

In One More Month...

We are going to have ourselves a 4 year old! Yikes!!

And yes, I know I need to update the blog. I've been thinking about it and will hope to have an updated post shortly!