Our Frightening Day With Briton

This week started like any other week with Briton. None stop!! Here are a few glimpses with Briton this week. Read to the end to see how this child frightened us out of our wits!

Monday morning he was helping himself to ice cream. He very efficiently got himself the ice cream from the freezer, the ice cream scoop and a bowl!!

YUMMY!

Two hours later I was outside accepting a delivery when Austin told me that Briton had been in my makeup. Remember, the gate *was* across my bedroom door! He has figured out how to pull it down. He was covered in mascara. He got it everywhere but his eyes! *laugh*

Don't I Look Like Mummy?

If I could write all that this child accomplishes in five minutes, your head would spin!!! Suffice it to say I do not stop all day!!! This is new. He used to be a calm, quiet child who would stand and play with three cars at the coffee table for fifteen minutes at a time!!! No more!!! He is SUCH an imp!!! On one hand he is adorable - on the other hand he keeps me so busy...

That night (I am not mentioning all the *other* things he did in that first day of the week!) I put him to bed. He decided he was not tired, so up he got. I put him back to bed many times!! Finally I heard his little room mate call out, "Briton's out of bed." I went into the room and did not see him and assumed he had put himself back to bed when he heard me coming. I went across to the other child and tucked him back into bed. As I was doing this I heard a drawer close, but thought nothing of it. I then turned to leave the room and as I did so the thought crossed my mind. "Why is a drawer shutting when there is no one there?"

I went back to the dresser and opened the drawers and in the bottom drawer I found the little imp hiding!! He had been playing in the bottom drawer and when he heard me coming he slid the drawer shut and hid!! I know this because I have seen how he thinks! He may not talk - but he certainly thinks!! *laugh* Back to bed he went!!

Hiding at Bedtime

The next morning, Tuesday, I woke up early (6:00 am) to get the big boys up for school and as I went past this little imp's room, I saw his little chair up against the gate at his door.

Escape Route

He has a baby gate across the door to stop him from leaving his room in the night, but at the same time he can have his door open to hear us. I knew I had pulled his door almost closed the night before, so why was a chair at the gate and the door wide open? I immediately went downstairs and checked the exterior doors and they were all locked. I knew he had to be in the house, but where. Then suddenly I heard a little pitter-patter of feet. He had gone in to his sleeping big brother's room! (His chairs and table have now been put into storage until he is less of a risk.)

The following day (Wednesday) he wanted to go out to play with his brothers and I said, no. I was not available and since his little expedition down the road a few weeks ago I was a little leary. He tried to open the deck door and I shut it and said, no. As I did this he turned and dashed pell-mell out of the kitchen and down the hall. Do you think I was born yesterday? I immediately grabbed my trusty memory maker (camera) and went out the door he had originally tried to go through (the kitchen door) and headed around the house to the other back door. I stood there with my camera at the ready and caught the little convict in action!

See How Nicely He Closes the Door Behind Himself!

Satisfied Grin, As He Thinks He Has Gotten Away!

Lately, he has worn himself out with all his escapades that he has taken to falling asleep in his highchair a couple times!! It is no wonder with all the running and climbing and mischief he is into!

Worn Out!

We have a fruit bowl which is high up on a counter and he got himself a stool and climbed up high to help himself to an apple. When he saw me coming he took off with a delighted giggle (new fun - mum can chase me and I can hide!) and hid under the table while eating his apple and leaving those yucky pieces of skin all over the bench!

Climbing on the Counter

Mischief Maker!

Here he is escaped again!! We have since had to put safety locks on the doors to stop anyone from exiting. They are now having to use only one exit from the house (in the kitchen under my beady eye), so that we can keep a better eye on this little monkey! We need to keep him safe and since he is determined to get outside at any cost...

Escapee With No Shoes

My neat child is no longer neat. Suddenly meal time is play time!! See his expression - His two older brothers walked in on him having breakfast (when I was not looking!) and gave him a talking to for playing with food and he gave them a look which said - "Back off, big brothers!"

Why Can't I Make This Disaster!

If you notice these incidents ran from Monday through Thursday (yesterday). Today was the most dramatic day of his little life. The last time I had a fright like I had today was when Dane was 2 1/2 years old. What is it with that age????

In the morning Briton wanted to go out to play with his brothers. I said no, at first, because he is so mobile, but finally I let him go for a few minutes. He played nicely with Austin. They were doing the yard clean up and working and playing in the back yard. Then Austin was leading Briton around with a rope he had tied to them both.

All Was Well

The next thing I know I can't see Briton. Where is Briton, I ask? Austin points to the log pile. I send Dane to check. Dane can't see him or find him. I head to the front of the house and have Cooper check the back. We all very quickly start looking in different directions. I race through the house calling his name and offering icecream. I am thinking I don't have any time to spare and if he is hiding in a closet doing something naughty, perhaps the thought of icecream will draw him out. And if he is not in the house I need to be outside. I can't be in both places at once, but I need to check the house before I panic and run down the street.

I think, this can't be happening! We just went through this and we have been *so* careful with him over the last few weeks. Doors have been locked, child watched, people cautious, him kept in the house all the time!

Finally it is clear that he is *not* in the garage, house, property, anywhere!!! So I post children in all directions and check under the wheels of my van and then drive out quickly. I figure I will go around the block. Dane has already checked up and down the road and has not see him! Maybe he has gone further. But our neighbourhood is all wooded and he could have wandered anywhere!

I drive around the 2km loop, praying all the while, "God, please help," over and over again. As I come back to our house I realize that he is gone. We have looked everywhere. He has vanished! I race in the house to get the phone and call 911. As I do this, I see the lady across the street exit her house. I call to her and ask her if she has seen a little boy of two. Please help look, I ask her. She immediately heads down the street into the properties, as I suggest. I hang up the phone and run back into the house and search again. More time goes by and now he has been gone for at least 20 minutes.

I run out of the house and I hear Dane call, "We have him." Apparently, the lady had gone into a property just down the road from us and had seen him sitting behind a boat, on the steps, playing with a dog. This is a police officer's house and we have met the dogs. It would make sense that since he walked in the same direction as the last time he left the property, that he would head towards animals, as he loves dogs!!!

Five minutes later the police arrived. I was very happy to hear that they already had a police dog ready to go and Search and Rescue had been put on stand-by!! Thank God they take it so seriously!!

That was the longest 20 minutes of my life (outside when Dane went missing for the same length of time at the same age!)

Fallen Asleep While Having Lunch After His Exciting Morning

It took about four more hours for my body to lose the stress it felt from the fright I got!!! As soon as we got him in the house and in the highchair, Briton fell asleep. I set to creating makeshift door hooks, until we can get something like alarms on the doors to alert us if he tries to leave the house. In the meantime, as soon as Ray came home from work he turned around and went out again. This time to rent an auger to build the front fence and driveway gate. We still have a wire fence around the property that he can climb if he figures out how. So the watch on Briton will continue to be vigilant until the snow flies and he is slowed down! or when he is 3 and hopefully more reliable!

Ray - Ready For a Busy Weekend!

We are so very, very thankful that our little one is safe!!! He is very precious, but oh, so very mischievious!! There is no doubt that he has angels looking after him! Any extra prayers for his safety would be appreciated!

After His Nap - Playing At My Feet

Innocent and Sweet

(just very, very busy!)

My Lawn, My Glorious Lawn

Before you read this story, read the one below about the Sad Plant Story and the Happy Lawn. Then you will see the importance of this one! *grin*

Raking, Raking, and More Raking

Little Workers Clearing the Rocks

After filling the wheelbarrow with rocks, the little boys found it too heavy to carry, and so, enlisted the help of big brother to carry the load to the dump pile.

Feeling Rather Silly *grin*

Baby Grass!

The day I saw this little bit of grass popping through was such a joyful day!!! I had asked my sister if my grass would grow if I had not put lime on the lawn. She showed me her daughter's grass that she was growing in a paper cup. If *she* could grow grass in a cup, with just water, then my grass was *sure* to grow!!

Little Tiny Grass

It may not look like much to you, but to me, it was the most beautiful lawn!! As you can see our driveway needs another load of rock, because we widened it when we were building the edging.

This lawn has required the utmost care. I have been putting my sprinkler on at 6:00am and moving it every 30-60 minutes, all throughout the day, up til 11:00 pm at night. This has gone on for about 2-3 weeks!!! But I am determined to be victorious!!!!

We have this odd shaped lawn that makes watering a little challenging. I have to fit the sprinkler all around the different trees. Thankfully, this week I have had a rest because it rained!!! A little bit of rain over the whole lawn, on a regular basis. So now almost all the seed has sproated.

People said that the grass would not grow around the trees. But I planned to have a 'park like' setting with grass around the base of all the trees.

Lawn Looking Thicker

Lush Grass!!

Our Beautiful Yard!!

View of House, Sports Court, Lawn, and Driveway

There are a number of finishing touches to do, such as more gravel, and weed killing. Other landscaping jobs, such as flowers, will be done next year. Our house and yard and all the touches have been such a blessing!!! We are so fortunate and thankful for what we have!!

The Sad Plant Story and the Happy Lawn

Turf

We began with the plan to put in turf, but then when I realized that the cost of the turf could pay for so many other things, and I might actually be able to raise grass myself, I decided to try grass seed!! The boys and I raked and hauled and tidied the old forest floor to the point where it was ready for soil. The soil was delivered and Ray took loads of it around with his little bobcat. Then it was my turn to rake the soil out. The next day I seeded it. The boys all wanted to run the thing around, but I could just see great clumps of grass seed in one place, so I did it myself. Overall it cost about $150 for the seed, versus $4000 for the sod!!!! Well worth the wait for the seed to sprout.

As anyone who knows me can attest - I kill anything I plant!! It is a *very* sad situation and on Mother's Day this year I was given two plants from my boys from church. One we have been rewarded with a number of years - and that is for having the largest family in our church. That is so nice. Well this year I was not at church that Sunday - actually 7 of us weren't. I went to visit my mother and wish her Happy Mothers Day. But Dane was an usher, so I dropped him off and off I went with our oldest son. When they were looking to see who had the largest family in church that week, it was noticed that we were absent, and then Dane spoke up! *grin* So he was our proxy and he brought home a beautiful plant.

Beautiful Orange Daisy

And then Austin and Cooper decorated a plant pot in sunday school one week.

Pansy

So I put those plants right by the window and I told everyone to *not* water them. I threatened them with drastic measures, if they touched them. This time I *was* going to succeed!!! I figured you can overwater a plant - ie: drown it! And you can dry it out. So, by my window it would not be forgotten, as it was by the sink. It got watered, and it looked beautiful, and as it flowered, I was so happy. I thought, these dear little plants are going to survive - unlike all the rest! Day by day I would enjoy them and water them when they looked a bit dry.

Then one day I noticed them wilting, and I figured if I plucked off the dead buds, they would do better. I was impressed with myself. I had remembered my mother telling me that the dead ones would drain the good flowers. I figured they would perk up now. They didn't. The next few days they became sicker and sicker. Then I thought that perhaps I was destined to always kill plants, and maybe this time it wasn't my fault. Think about it. If you water the plants with the city water - it has bleach in it! If you use the water softener water it has salt in it! Maybe it wasn't me killing them, maybe it was the water!

Whatever the case, I tried to take them outside. Maybe they need sunlight! Nope! Finally, I had one wilting little flower left on each plant!!! I thought maybe I should pray for it! The next day the one flower on each plant had perked up and was actually looking fresh! Hah!! I had found the problem. But nope! The next day they were wilting again! So sad!! After that I just left them. There seemed to be nothing I could do right. Now these sad little plants have these pretty pots, but nothing else!

Sad, Sad Plants

Now, a friend came by and told me (after she had politely refrained from mentioning the skeletons of plants sitting on my table outside, until I pointed them out to her) that they needed bigger pots. Now if this is true, it is a crime that when you get a plant *noone* tells you this!!! Seriously, I had no idea that this was true!!! And if this is true, then why are all my mother's plants doing hunky dorey in her *little pots* in the house and getting watered when *she thinks about it*!!!!

And can you imagine, I had two plants once - a spider plant and a 'thing' that Ray gave me when Colt was nine months old and in hospital. I had no idea how to take care of the 'thing', so I just watered it (when I remembered) and stuck a stick in the pot. It grew and grew and grew. I have a feeling I was supposed to trim it or something because all I had was this 3/4 inch round long stick with a few leaves on the top. It must have been four feet tall!! Rather ugly- BUT it was alive!!!!

The spider plant did just fine. They seem rather resilient. I wouldn't water it and then I would drown it and leave it for another month and it seemed to get used to this method of care.

Spider Plant

I then made the mistake of moving and leaving these two *precious* plants (they were precious as they were the only things that have ever survived!) with a neighbour. When I came back to get them later she told me she had killed them both!! I was *devastated*!!! I had had one for SEVEN years! That was the *end* of my plant days

But my LAWN!!! Now THAT is an accomplishment!! As I planted that I prayed for it and for some reason THAT has been a success!!! Wait for further updates!

The Fun of the Sports Court

The boys have had a blast with the new court!!! They have frequently set it up with bits of wood to create a 'race course' . Austin is the starter guy, and the other boys are the racers.

Are You Ready!!

And They're Off!

They are all getting used to skateboarding, as most of them had not even tried it before.

Skateboard Newbies

Dane is Now Pretty Good -

Here He is Just Getting Used To It

Briton is getting good at pushing his bike around, and Cooper can ride is bike like a pro.

He even will take Austin's bike and ride that when he can! And he is only four! He was the first to ride a bike, with no training wheels, so young.

The next thing Ray had to do was build the lip on the court. This was so the water would not drain out in the winter time.

Forming Up the Lip

Dane Mixing Cement with Colt

Fun After the Lip is Built

Good For Moonshoes, Too!

Ride 'em Cowboy!

I saw this glorious rocking horse when I was in a store recently. I saw it was marked down half price and I had always wanted a rocking horse for my kids, so I asked the guy if that was the best price he could give. He told me he would give me another ten percent off if I would take the floor model!! No kidding!! That would mean no building the thing!! We had to work hard to cram it in the back of my van, but it is wonderful!! It is big enough that our 8 year old can ride it comfortably. There are foot holds for different age levels, as well. Briton learned very quickly how to climb up on it and ride like a little cowboy. He is quite sweet how he pets the horse when he is riding. *smile*

Street Sweeper With His Contraption

Beginning the Sports Court

We had always wanted our boys to have a sports court. Ray had originally proposed the plan back in our old house and we had cleared an area three or four years ago. But living where we did it required a lot more in cartage costs for concrete and sand, and so the idea sat. When we moved to the town, it became a necessity. My figuring was that my kids might move to the town, but they were not going to lose their freedom that they had had in the country. So by putting in the sports court we could give them the fun of bike riding, rollerblading, skate boarding, basketball, and hockey without the dangers of having to play in the streets. It also gives our children a wonderful place to invite their friends to.

We have built our sports court so that they may play in the summer and winter. We have built up a lip, so that they court may be flooded in the winter for an ice rink. Here you can see the beginnings of our court.

Cleaning Up After All the Mud

There was much work to be done! All the logs were moved and I had raked up all the debris that was under it. My main helpers, Dane and Cassidy were filling the wheelbarrow and hauling it away. We were burning what we could and the rest went to our compost pile.

Notice All the Piles!!

Preparing the Sports Court

Watching the Excitement

Our Soil Arrives

The little boys were helping clear up some soil spills on the driveway.

Clean Up Crew

Big Brother Keeping Little One Safe

Piles of Soil For Our New Lawn

Beginning of Sports Court

Laying the Rebar

Littlest Crew Member

Tying the Rebar

Once the was laid across the court, we had to tie each and every piece with wire. That was a lot of tying!!! Hard on the fingers, too! But we want a nice strong foundation of cement.

Completed Rebar

Watching the Excitement

Pouring the Concrete

Power Trowelling to Get a Great Surface

We put in a drain, so the water can drain, and also, holes on the sides so that we could put up a net for tennis or other sports. The finished court is 24' x 34' - big enough for most anything!