Sunday, September 29, 2013

Sunday Ramble

Sunday evening seems to be where it's at for me to sit behind this Blogger dashboard and ramble about what's been happening.  On Saturday morning when I got out of the shower this is what my girls had waiting for me...



They had a little picnic set up two inches from the back door...because it was the only spot where the golden, autumn sun's rays were shining.  I like the way they think.

The girls have been taking their turn behind my camera lens lately.  So maybe you will be seeing more of my face in front of the camera.  And Lexi, well, she's got the fake smile thing mastered. Photo credit, Callie, age 6. 



And here I am in my happy place.  Warm morning sun on my face, coffee in my cup, watching my girls ride bikes and play.  Ahh, this is what weekends were made for.  Photo credit, Lexi, age 4.

We participated in a little culture this weekend.  We've been here before.  The girls ate snow cones and kettle corn.  Actually I ate the kettle corn.



And they climbed trees with friends.  This tree was the most perfect tree for climbing.  No other entertainment was necessary although we did watch a little of the dancing and a very interesting Elvis rendition.



A lot of other things happened this weekend.  Things like visiting with my grandma, going to Walmart, shopping for a gym suit for Callie, a classmate's birthday party, home reading, music practice...you know, happy weekend kinda things.  But I'm done rambling because I'm going to bed.  All the girls lessons start this week and I'll probably be wiped by Wednesday.  Happy, busy, fun, week ahead.  Enjoy.

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Adventures in the Yard

Every Sunday there is a shakedown at our house.  Which really means that it's time to get done what needs to be done because the week is nearly upon us.  And this shakedown sounds like a bomb going off in the house.  There is a steady hum from the washing machine, clanging from the dryer, and steam escaping from the dishwasher.  There are baskets of laundry to put away, living room forts to dismantle, groceries to be bought, girls to be bathed...all in preparation for the week ahead.  I'm not sure what happened to Sunday being the day of rest.



This afternoon my fall nesting instincts kicked in so I started with homemade soup.  As my soup was simmering on the stove filling the house with its aroma and my apple crisp was near ready for the oven, Callie says, "can you come outside with me mom?"  My brain suggested a hundred reasons to say no...I'm busy, the mess in the house, the clothes, the dishes, blah, blah...  But then my last thought is always something old grannies would say.  Something along the lines of kids not remembering or caring how clean their house was but always remembering that mom was too busy to play.



And sometimes I am too busy to play.  But today, I turned the stove off and went on an adventure with my girls in the back yard.  Past the fence...which is always a little more exciting.  





And guess what?  When I got back home the mess and the dishes and the clothes were all still there. And I didn't get everything done that I had planned to today. Oh well.  But I did have fun with theses girls...
 


...on our adventure in the yard.

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Stuff

 Do you ever look at an IKEA catalogue and wonder where all the family's stuff is?  Like where is all the stuff pulled out of school backpacks and the junk mail and flyers?  Why are there not miscellaneous happy meal toys strewn around or remnants from birthday party treat bags littering the floor?  Is this family's music bag, book bags,  gym bags, camera bags, iPad chargers, fundraising packages, random socks, and sunglasses all neatly tucked behind the doors of a PAX storage system?  Do all their kids toys really fit in those TROFAST bins?



It feels like we are swimming in "stuff" in our house these days.  I have been mentally preparing to do the Great Closet Sort for the last couple of weeks.  You know the drill.  Weeding out the girls clothes.  Packing away summer shorts and too small jammies.  Moving shirts from Callie's closet to Lexi's because it's not worth putting them in a box anymore.  Making room for sweaters and long sleeves and all that good stuff.



And one of these days, when little eyes aren't so observant, loads of "stuff" will mysteriously disappear and be passed along to someone who has more PAX storage systems and  TROFAST toy bins than we do.



These little organizational chores did not get done this weekend.  They were definitely thought about.  But the sun was shining and the park was calling us.  And the we don't have many of these days left thought trumped the we should get this place organized thought hands down.  



There will be a time for closet sorting and toy removal.  Someday soon.  As for today, we took our homework outside, rode bikes, wrote stories and all that kinda stuff. 

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Relay

It's been two years since the last Relay for Life. A lot can happen in two years.  I bet you wouldn't even recognize my special friend today.  Even though I was more prepared this year, knowing what to expect of this event, I was once again overwhelmed with emotion as I watched the survivors walk the victory lap.



As the sea of yellow-shirted survivors walked around the track I thought about how I had come out to support my special young friend and her purple team but in all reality it didn't really matter which team I was walking for.  In a community this size, your friends are your colleagues and your colleagues are your family and you've somehow crossed paths with everyone of these survivors for one reason or another.  And watching these survivors causes endless tears.  Tears of hope for the living, tears sadness for the ones who lost the fight and tears of heartache for the loved ones who must go on without them.



I thought Callie had lots of questions about Cancer two years ago...let's just say six year olds are even more inquisitive.  She listened intently to the stories of survival and the stories of loss and I could literally hear the wheels turning in her head as she pieced together the fact that she knew these people too.  "You mean Abby's dad had cancer?  And Drayden's mom?  And Mrs. Schwartz?"  And not only was she realizing that people she knows have had the bug she now wanted to learn where in their body they had it and how did they get it.  Legitimate questions I know but this mama had a hard time finding the right words to satisfy her curious mind.



We lit some candles in honour of our survivors and in memory of the ones we've lost.  When we got home from the Relay Callie said, "Whenever I learn about a new thing like Cancer or whatever I always get worried that I'm going to get it."  Once again, this mama didn't know what to say.  Let's just keep fighting the fight so that someday I can tell her not to worry and that we've got this Cancer thing beat.

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Grade One

We successfully made it through the first day of grade one.  The first day of grade one was a complete 180 from the first day of Kindergarten.  The girl who walked across the playground this year was excited, confident and happy but she still needed mom to come with her.  The changes for Callie from Kindergarten to Grade one seemed to be just the right amount for her to manage.  The things that stayed the same...same school, same door to enter, same French teacher, same kids in her class...balanced out the changes...full days at school, new daycare for lunches, new English teacher...and made for a pretty smooth transition to grade one.



A few weeks ago the girls and I were out shopping with Nana and Callie picked out a new outfit for the first day of school.  She doesn't usually get too excited about new clothes but on this particular day she was pumped up to try on the clothes she picked.  Nana and I looked at each other with raised eyebrows as if to say, "who's child is this and what happened to Callie?"  The outfit she picked for herself had me questioning whether I knew this girl at all...it was a sweater with a BOW!  Well, she tried it on and said it felt right and that she liked it and was going to wear it on the first day of school.  The first day of school turned out to be one of the hottest days of the year so the sweater thing didn't end up happening.  If this sweater ever appears on her body there will definitely be a photo taken.

    First day of Kindergarten, grade one, grade three, and grade two...


Callie came home from her first day of Grade One vibrating with excitement.  She was talking a mile a minute about learning to sing O Canada and how her class is going to sing it at a hockey game!  She showed off her school agenda explaining to me where she writes notes and where I'm supposed to sign it everyday.  She talked about learning to read and getting to sit at a desk and organizing school supplies. There was no nervousness mixed into her words.  Just pure, crystal clear excitement.   It was a good day.



Lexi's first day on her own at the new daycare caused a teary goodbye as Callie and I left for school.  She fell and skinned both her knees on the pavement in the morning but things got better at lunch time when her BFF got to the daycare after her first morning at kindergarten.  When I picked her up she was all smiles and full of hugs and kisses for her mama.  I missed her too.

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

It's That Time of Year

The backpack is loaded with neatly labelled school supplies, new shoes, and recess snacks.  It is sitting by the door just waiting for it's first day of Grade 1 tomorrow.  

It was Curious George who tucked my big girl into bed tonight...




Today Callie told us that her and her friend decided that they were feeling both excited and nervous, "both at the same time, mom!" - about starting school tomorrow.  Don't you just know exactly what she's talking about?





And Lexi, well, we've been preparing her for a while about the upcoming changes.  She is preparing for days at a new day care without the security of her big sister and she will be heading off to preschool without her bestest bud who graduated to kindergarten this year.  My heart aches for her even though logically I know it will all be okay.  



It's that time of year.  Back to schedules and routines.  Back to work and early mornings.  I know it's cliché to say that time goes so fast but didn't this summer seem especially quick?  Good bye summer holidays, can't wait until we meet again.  And here's to hoping for smooth and easy transitions for everyone tomorrow. Good Night.

Monday, September 2, 2013

My Little Mermaid

We now have a four year old in the house and little sister's wish was to have an underwater mermaid adventure for her party.   Fortunately, by some stroke of luck, on the day of her party the rains came down hard and heavy making us feel like we were minutes away from floating out to sea.  So I did my best to turn our living room into Oceana with dollar store streamers, jelly fish crafts, and mermaid tails too, of course.  


On being four...



Every morning you ask for toast with peanut butter and jam, not cooked.  Which is actually a pb&j sandwich. Every night you ask in the sweetest, four year old voice, "I sleep in your bed, mom?"  You talk about Blair Willows and Delancy Devin and Merliah Summers and Kylie Morgan as if they are alive and well and good friends of yours.  You have us Googling the release of the next Barbie Movie.  



You have mastered a good eye roll and have perfected talking with your hand on your hip.  "Seriously, mom" and "My mom said..."  are two well used phrases.  You rarely forget your manners.  Pleases, thank-yous, I love yous...roll off your tongue without second thought.  You are chatty to store clerks, gas attendants and people in general.



You prefer chocolate over vanilla.  
Late nights over early mornings.  
Noodles over meat.  
Puzzles are a frequent choice but all toys make you happy.
You tell me blue is your favorite color,  
And that granola bars are your favorite snack.



You like to balance things on your head like on Princess Charm School.
You like to wear Grandma's glasses. 
You like to go swimming and you say you want to try dance class.  
You like cheeseburger Happy Meals with no pickle.   
You like to be close to mom.  



You do your best to keep up with big sister.  You ride the Tigger bike down-hill like Evel Knievel.  Mom is always yelling, "Brakes!!!!"  You can maneuver around an iPad as if your brain was hard wired for the task. You are happy and cheerful.  You say, "it's okay to make mistakes, right mom?  You make mistakes all the time, right mom?"  You are affectionate and sweet and oh so smart.  You know how to bat your eyelashes when needed, give hugs and kisses to soften my heart, and sweet talk your way into almost anything you want.  You are my sweet, sweet, baby girl.
You are four.