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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.