Slackin'

Sorry for my absence once again.

It seems that there has been a lot...and nothing much...going on lately and I have been a negligent blogger. Sigh.

Last Sunday was my birthday and it was a GORGEOUS day weather wise. As a child, all but one in my memory there was snow on the ground. Often A LOT of snow. This year, it was 13 degrees and sunny so we took advantage of it. After a lovely brunch at Cora's (mmmmmm), we spent the afternoon at the park playing in the leaves. What fun!

Burying the little man



Fun in the leaves



The Bear being "cool guy"




The girlie posing (as usual)

It was then back at home for a dinner made for me by my hubby and then cake.

Why five candles? I am not sure. Perhaps one for each of my children? Sounds good to me.

It was a lovely day spent with the people most important to me. What a perfect way to spend a birthday! (I do think that a spa day is still in my future though LOL)

Happy Halloween!!

The Girlie dressed as a cheerleader and she even worked out a Halloween cheer (that she was, of course, too shy to actually say while we were out :)



And here is our little monkey man. SO cute!!




The monkey was joined by Micheal Jackson





The bear went to hang out with his friends and left before I could take his picture. Boo!

A fun Halloween was had by all!

The Elusive Family Photo

Those of you who have spent any amount of time reading my blog will obviously know...I love taking pictures...especially pictures of my kids. So, while we were all together at Fort Whyte for the Girlie's birthday, I wanted to take a picture of all the kids together. Maybe for Chirstmas cards...perhaps just for us...whatever. I would just like to get a nice pic of my pride and joy.


Humph...easier said than done. Here is all I got...


Hmmmm....the middle child is missing (refusing to get up on the rock because so and so blah blah blah....you know the drill )






Take Two: Where is the Little Man? Exit stage right...climbing a tree









All togther now but wait....don't they look thrilled to be there?!?








Yup, little man gone again.




SO frustrating!!


I think that I may have to perfect my Photoshopping skills (which at the moment are pretty minimal) in order to get a picture of all five of my kids sitting together, looking at the camera, and not scowling.

Until then...this does still give you all a window into my world.

NINE!!

Well, our middle child has turned NINE!! Wow, how time flies.

This year, we broke from tradition a bit and celebrated his birthday the day before (usually, we are sticklers for "the date"). There was no school on the Monday so we thought we would take advantage of it (and S was thrilled at the idea of getting his presents a day early!) So, as has been the tradition for the last 9 years, we spent the afternoon at the Children's Museum.



Here is the birthday boy!

Fun with the mirrors (and little brothers)

The girlie goofing around

Our little newscaster

S is many of the things that middle children are. He switches from being a calm and mature "bigger kid" to a silly, goofball, "little kid" on a dime. He can be the pest and the tantrumer one minute, and the peace maker and the helper the next.

He is smart, and sweet, and kind. Quick to anger but also quick to forgive. When the little ones need a hand, he is often the first to offer. When the mood strikes him (and it strikes with some regularity) he can become "Super Cleaner" and will tidy anything that you ask...and then some.

He really is such a great kid and we had a great time celebrating him this week! Next year...double digets. Oh My!!

The End of Summer

Well, I can hardly believe that summer is over. Backpacks and school supplies and new school clothes have been purchased, sorted, labelled and packed. We had a glorious long weekend full of football, family BBQ's and a fun day of golf. (Hubby took the big boys to golf nine holes and the littles and I went mini-golfing).



Now, fall reality sinks in. Back to routines, early bedtimes, packing lunches and soon enough fall activites.

The excitement has been palpable the last few days. On Tuesday evening, new clothes were carefully selected by each child and laid out for the morning. Special snacks for "first day of school lunches" were lovingly packed and ingredients for back-to-school breakfasts were purchased and assembled by this mother with mixed emotions.

There is a part of me that looks forward to the structure and routine that the school year brings. It feels like a time of renewal and fresh beginnings.

I love the anticipation I saw in the kids and remembered that feeling, that very sensation in my body. I remember being that little girl, agonizing over what to wear on that important first day; the excitement of crisp new clothes, squeaky new shoes and all of the wonder and hope that it accompanied.

I remember that little knot in my belly and the tightness in my chest, the feeling of millions of butterflies flittering around my tummy as I wondered who would be in my class, who would I sit with, would I like my new teacher? It is a visceral thing, I feel it in every part of me... sometimes.

Then there are those other times. The times, like Tuesday evening, that I am short and cross. Those times... after the third glass of water is asked for, the second pee break requested, the bazillionth time I hear "Mom...I can't find my guy!! ...it's too dark! ...or too light! ... or too cold! ... or too hot!" I get angry and snap at them because I want them to be well rested and ready for their big day. I want them to be quiet so the others can sleep. I want them to stay in bed when they have been lovingly tucked in, read to, cuddled and kissed. Sometimes I just want them to STAY IN BED!

*sigh*

I have moments when I wish summer would never end. I long for more time to stay up late, sleep in, have pajama days and host sleep overs and all the fun things that summer means. I love our long praire summer evenings and the toning down of scheduled activities, meetings and appointments.

But, all good things must come to an end, I suppose, and sooner or later the lack of routine might drive me over the edge. Maybe :)

When Wednesday morning arrived, I was reminded again of the excitement of the day. I remembered how I often had a hard time falling asleep the night before the first day of school, so pumped full of adrenaline and nervous energy and I felt guilty for being such a hard-ass the night before. Oh well. It seemed that all had been forgiven (or forgotten) and we went on with the day.

Breakfast was eaten ...waffles and whip cream and berries mmmmmm.




Just so we are clear, it is not everyday that the kids get a hot breakfast and it was only toaster waffles (Super Mom, I am not) but for the first day of school, at least, I will have send them off with more than just cold cereal and juice in their stomachs.

I double and triple checked backpacks and lunch kits, shoe laces and sweaters.

And then they were off..

Off to Grade One

Off to Grade Four

And off to Grade Six

(The teenager is far too cool to participate in the first day of school pictures now *sigh* Off to Grade Ten for him)

Here they are...

And there they go...

Off to learn and grow and explore and expand in a world that I have little control of.

Believe me, there is a part of me that would like to keep them at home forever and I mourn this passing of a new year, but seeing how excited they were yesterday as that school bus pulled up to take them to their new school and then hearing about the best parts of their day when they returned was the pay off.

Watching my kids traverse this new transition with such joy reminds me to do the same. As an adult, so much time is often been spent "not doing" for fear of....what? Failure? Embarrassment? Ego? Hmmm...

This is my children's gift and lesson for me today.

Photography Scavenger Hunt

One of our final weeks' assignments was a scavenger hunt. We had a list of about 30 things and we were supposed to bring in photos of at least 10.

Here are a few of my faves..

"Shake Skin"



Someone doing the splits




Someone playing an "air guitar"





A blue tongue





A musician with their instrument




A hot dog with the works

A milk or kool-aid mustache (this one is actually blueberry smoothie)

I enjoyed the class SO much and hope to take another sometime in the not too distant future. I learned a lot and it was just fun to have assignments to work on that made me make time for photo taking...and the kids got to help mommy with her "homework" so it sort of became a family event.

I also so enjoyed the time spent with my lovely photo partner and hope to plan some photo field trips together soon.

THAT mother

For years, I have seen THAT mother...that woman at the swimming pool sitting on the sidelines taking pictures of her little swimmers. I would see her, dry and fully dressed, perched carefully on a bench, sometimes reading, cheering, snapping pictures , all while I schlupped myself and whatever infant/toddler that was youngest in our crew into the kiddie pool. I was in awe of her. Green with envy. How does one get to do that?!?

Well, today, I am THAT mother! The little man (and the girlie, and the middle child :) are in lessons this week and next. The little man is in a transitional class that gears them up to take lessons without a parent and today...he did it! All by himself!

Technically, he went in by himself yesterday for the first time but I was poolside with my swimsuit on in case it didn't work out...but today, I was THAT mother, dry and fully dressed, taking pictures and giving the thumbs up from the bench.

Here are "the sea turtles"

Getting a "train ride"

Learning to float

Waiting for the slide (his favorite part)

They are having lots of fun and I am so proud of them all!

Easter Sunday

We were blessed with nice enough weather on Easter Sunday to spent the afternoon outside at Fort Whyte Centre. Each year, they do an easter egg hunt outside (these "Eggs" are actually colored, laminated pieces of paper of different colors in the shape of eggs). The kids find enough eggs of certain colors to trade in for candy.

They certainly didn't need any more chocolate but the fresh air was great! Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the day.

The Girlie



The middle child



The Bear



The little man was far too busy jumping in mud puddles and throwing sticks into water to pose for any decent pictures and the teenager is far "too cool" to even be in the group shots. Sigh...




Someday I will take a few more pictures of him and maybe Photoshop him in so people know that he is still a part of our family and that we haven't strangled him yet. Until then, you'll just have to take my word for it :o)

Snow Day

Well, we got another big dump of snow over night and through the day but, thankfully the temperatures were much milder and the boys were outside having a good old fashioned type "snow day". Here are two of my favorites :o)