Weekends

We live for weekends around here...for many reasons. It means that I'm not on call so I don't need to worry about the phone ringing at 5am. Hubs does not need to wake with the birds to be on the "express" commuter train that takes over an hour. Weekends mean no crazy mornings rushing around trying to get R ready for preschool on time or taking B to music class. We cherish those two little days in a row with no real commitments and no time constraints.

We usually don't plan much but we do have some weekend traditions. Friday nights are reserved for close friends and family with whom you can wear comfy pants and you don't have to clean your house. Saturday mornings we do pancake breakfasts complete with whipping cream and strawberries. On Saturdays, we also look forward to movie nights and big bowls of buttery popcorn. Sundays are best spent being lazy with little or no agenda. That was the kind of day we had today.

B and Daddy started off this lazy Sunday with an early morning hot tub to get energized.

Then, we spent most of the afternoon inside baking and tasting chocolate chip cookies and playing board games.

Eventually, we decided to take a wagon ride to the park because although it is nice to have a lazy day at home it is also good to get out! Tomorrow brings a new week and, thankfully, with it comes the promise of a another weekend.

A Miniature Replica

I have been home with the kids for a couple of days while hubs was away on business. The bad thing about that is that we miss him, the good thing is that we have our own miniature replica (aka B) as a constant reminder. I really should dig up some baby pictures to compare the two of them...needless to say that B is his Daddy's "mini-me".

Joy

The happy spectrum runs from joyful all the way to merely content. The great thing about children is they find natural joy in little things like pink balloons stuck to very blonde hair and full body submersion in mommy's bubble bath. I know that as they grow they will slide up and down on the scale of general happiness but I hope that they will always be able to find the simple joys in life.

Wordless Wednesday...

"stay at home mom"

Since becoming a "stay at home mom" I now realize what an oxymoron that term is in today's world. When we were kids my mom was the real thing. My dad left for work in the morning in our family car and returned 8 hours later. Most days she was home for those eight hours with her two kids - she really was a "stay at home mom". She had coffee with the neighbourhood moms while we played with the neigbourhood kids. We went to the park, played in our yard, and sometimes walked to the corner store. For the most part our life occurred within a one km radius. It was beautifully simple. As much as I appreciated my calm and centered childhood, somehow this is not the lifestyle that I have adopted with my own kids over the last three years.

It is a rare day when we actually stay at home. Rather than play dates with neighbours it is usually friends in neighbouring cities who we spend our days with. Many mornings I find myself rushing around and packing up the kids to meet friends at that magical play date time of ten o'clock. Packing the lunch, charging the cell phone, suiting up the kids in weather appropriate gear, ensuring that a back-up set of such gear is in the trunk, bringing toys to amuse said kids on 20+ minute ride, checking to make sure that the proper stroller is loaded in the back, driving through TH for my much needed tea, taking song requests from the backseat and listening to way more Raffi than I ever thought possible...Finally arriving at a park or play center and spending the next few hours talking and playing. Sharing toys, swapping food, making up games, using sooo many wet wipes for sooo many purposes. Usually around one o'clock nap time is approaching and everything and everybody needs to get packed back up and loaded back into the car to head home.

This is my life as a "stay at home mom"...and I love it! It is beautifully busy. But maybe tomorrow we will stay home and play on the street, and walk to "our" park, and have tomato soup for lunch...just for old time's sake.

Pint-sized pen-pal

It is rather ironic that in this computerized world this little one has decided to take a keen interest in old school mail. Especially considering that she has a techno mom and a cyber dad. R is obsessed with the whole mail process: writing (dictating) a letter, addressing an envelope, licking a stamp and walking to the mailbox to put it in the slot. It all started when she mailed a letter to her Great Grandma (see above). Then today, she insisted on writing a letter to her little friend, S, who lives down the block...right next to the mailbox. R was insisting that we mail the letter to her and I had to convince her that it would be better if we just dropped it off on S' doorstep. She finally relented and we walked it fifty yards to her house and placed it on her front porch. If there are any potential pen-pals out there who live farther than fifty yards then go ahead and make her day - fill her "old school" inbox! Just be prepared for what you will get in return: a dictated letter with careful colouring and an envelope decorated with Dora stickers!

White men can jump!

This kid's got game! Physical skills are definitely a strength for B. His repertoire includes jumping, running, twirling, climbing, and dancing and each day he surprises us with something new. His language repertoire is also growing. His top five words are: "ball", "soos" (soother), "da", "mama", and "up". Now we are just waiting to see what he calls his sister! He is our little all-star!

Lucky, Blessed, Fortunate...

Everyone calls it something different and it means something different to everybody. To me it is the luxury of being able to enjoy these little sprouts as they grow. Today it included being brought chocolate chip pancakes in bed and going to the lake with my family. Of course there were a few unfortunate incidents throughout the day: a toppled mimosa on a down duvet, a certain teething individual biting another particular individual, and a little guy toppling backwards on his bum into a cold lake. Every day has outtakes but at the end of the day there are definitely more good moments than bad ones and that makes me feel lucky, blessed, and fortunate.

My Mom

Cooking. Laughing. Loving. These are three things that my mom has down pat. Now she is attempting golf! She is the heart of our family. She is known as "the matriarch", "head office", and "squinty". She is a great mom and grandma. When I grow up I want to be just like her! Happy Mother's Day, Mom! I love you!

B

Polka-dots and pigtails

Meal Plan Monday

So I feel like I need to get everything organized and under control by September 2011 (my return to full-time teaching date). One of the things that I have been trying to do is plan meals for the week. This month I am also going to try to stick to a grocery budget (wish me luck!). I will be trying to cook with what we have, without having to make intermittent grocery store trips to pick up random ingredients. For the meal planning part I basically generate 5 ideas for supper and then decide that morning what we are having that night for dinner. If I get time during B's nap then I do some prep to cut down on the five o'clock craziness. What are you having this week??? Check out "I'm an Organizing Junkie" for lots of ideas.

This week we are planning to have:

Veggie burgers and sweet potato fries

Turkey Chimichangas and spinach salad

Broccoli, Chicken & Rice Bake

Pulled Beef Sandwiches and salad

Baked Ham, carrots, roasted asparagus

Common Moods

... slight annoyance

...intense concentration

...joyous exuberance