blerg.

Just stopping in to say we have nine (9!) birthdays in our family between now and Ukrainian Christmas. Let's go shopping...

(p.s. If you are part of my family and planning on having another baby ever, do us a favour and have it NOT in November, December or early January. I thank you.)

(p.p.s. by "family" I mean us, our parents, our brothers and sisters and their spouses and kids.)

FIVE

My little Monkey turned five this week. It is hard to believe it has been that long since he made his grand entrance into this world. That means that I have been a Mother, and The Music Man a father, for five years. It also means (because he nursed until a week after The Little One was born) that I have been breastfeeding a child for five years now.

My little man is growing up. He has started school and made friends there. He had some of them over for a party which was great fun. He is, slowly but surely, becoming a caring and helpful big brother. He is looking forward to the day when he can share bunk beds with his little brother. (that day is coming soon. we have bought the paint for their new bedroom, so hopefully it will be painted and ready to move into in the next few weeks.) He even rode in his first bike race today. He is, in his words, a Lego Expert. And it's true, too. This evening he assembled an airplane from a set labeled 6 and up with no help at all. He is such a fun kid, and often very sweet. Of course he has his moments when his claws come out (literally) but I can almost forget about those moments when he says something wonderful like, "Isn't it a lovely day to be outside and spend time with your family."

I love you, Monkey. Have fun being five!

First Day: First Edition

My little big boy started French Immersion Kindergarten this year. We've had almost a month of school now and we're settling into a routine. He goes every day in the afternoon. We had a few tears (okay, lots) along the way, but I think it will be smooth sailing from here.

He started school on Thursday, Sept. 8. They do a staggered entrance, meaning 1/3 of the kids started on Wed, 1/3 on Thurs and 1/3 on Friday. He walked into that classroom with a confident smile on his face and had a great day. On Monday, he was pleased to go again. On Tuesday he was catching on that this was an every day thing, and maybe he didn't like it so much. On Wednesday we had a major problem. He was screaming crying when I tried to leave him, so eventually I went in with him, but that didn't calm him down. Eventually I was able to leave, but he was still not happy about it. The teacher called me at home that night to chat about a plan. It turned out that he was scared of gym class. There are two kindergarten classes in the gym at a time making it very loud, and filled with "kids I don't know." Thursday and Friday of that week were a bit better, but by Monday he was ready to go, without tears.

The reason he was happy to go on Monday is that he had made a friend. Another little boy who was scared of gym spent some time together with Monkey and the teacher and they hit it off. Now he has gone for three whole weeks being mostly happy to go every day. He has also since made a few more friends.

The Little One goes to bed as soon as we get back from dropping Monkey off, so I am able to get a few things done around the house (yay!) before having some one-on-one playing time with The Little One (yay!).

So, now I am officially a school mom. I hope I can do this...We still consider the possibility of homeschooling in the future. The next project to tackle is the politically charged issue of...The Birthday Party.


as usual, this picture will self-destruct...

Today is a good news day.

A couple whom we love very much have just become the legal guardians of a little boy whom we also love very much.

Praise the Lord!


coming soon, Monkey's first day of kindergarten...

What We've been doing this summer...

The Music Man and Me as Lumiere and Mrs Potts in our community theatre production of Beauty and the Beast!

Ten Years Later

Then: May 26, 2001

Now: May 26, 2011

Happy Tenth Anniversary, Music Man. I love you.

(thanks to Bren's hubby, LJ for taking the Anniversary pics!)

BEST. DATE. EVER.

and we even had one of our kids along!


Over The Rhine at The West End Cultural Centre, Winnipeg. May 12, 2011.


(these pictures will self destruct...)

Spring.

So, I should probably be writing about something else. Like the post about mean kids that I promised. Or some commentary on the two major news headlines this week. About those, all I have to say is 1) I'm sorry that my vote doesn't really count, and 2) Proverbs 24:17 {with thanks to Jeffrey Overstreet for bringing that one to mind}

But all I really want to do is quote from Purple Springs by Nellie McClung (I've recently become a huge fan of her fiction. And Pearl Watson may have replaced a certain red-haired heroine as my "Favourite Heroine in Early 20th Century Canadian Fiction") Spring has had a hard go of things this year here in Southern Manitoba. We've managed to melt the snow only to have it covered by not one, not two, but THREE Spring snow storms (the last of which was on May 1st). So in honour of Spring, here goes...

"The Spring was late, cruelly late, so late indeed that if it had been anything else but a season, it would have found itself in serious trouble - with the door locked and a note pinned on the outside telling it if it could not come in time it need not come at all. But the Spring has to be taken in, whenever it comes - and be forgiven too, and even if there were no note on the door, there were other intimations of like effect, which no intelligent young Spring could fail to understand. Dead cattle lay on the river bank, looking sightlessly up to the sky. They had waited, and waited, and hung on to life just as long as they could, but they had to give in at last.

Spring came at last, brimful of excitement and apologies. It was a full-hearted, impulsive and repentant young Spring, and lavished all its gifts with a prodigal hand; its breezes were as coaxing as June; its head burned like the first of July; its sunshine was as rich and mellow as the sunshine of August. Spring had acknowledged its debt and the overdue interest, and hoped to prevent any unpleasantness by paying all arrears and a lump sum in advance; and doing it with such a flourish of good fellowship that the memory of its past delinquency would be entirely swept away!"

Now those are the words of someone who knows about Manitoba Springs! Happy Mothers' Day, everyone!

Blog roll Update...

Hey, check it out. A friend has started a very cool blog project. After coming into possession of her Grandma's recipe box, she has decided to make every recipe in it and then blog about the results. Some of the recipes are a bit vague, maybe even cryptic. I think it will be fun to see how they all turn out. A good read for anyone with fond memories of their own Grandma's cooking!

Check it out here.


coming soon: a post about mean kids and how being a mother is sometimes not very fun.

What's in the Bible?

Okay, so have you all seen this?

If you haven't you should probably make a point of it. I would actually consider going into a Christian book store to get it. (usually the idea of going into a Christian book store makes me want to run the other way or throw up. but that's a whole other post...)

We have watched the first four DVDs from our church library, which has taken us to the end of the book of Ruth. Monkey, who is now four and a half, LOVES it (Especially Cap'n Pete). And I have now learned more about the Old Testament than I ever did in Bible college (sorry, Cameron McKenzie) Okay, to be fair, I have now RETAINED more than I ever did in college. (If Cameron McKenzie had taught with catchy little songs that would have been a different story. "Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers/Read a little everyday before you slumber/Cap it all of with a trip through Deuteronomy/Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy")

So there's my recommendation of the day. Enjoy!

"PIG!"

Apparently Monkey has no moral qualms about eating meat. (which he shouldn't because the small amount of meat that we do eat comes from farmers we know and has been raised ethically...) The other day we were eating bacon and he lifted a forkful in the air and shouted, gleefully, "PIG!"

Maybe I should worry a little bit though, because today we had this conversation:

Monkey: (while shaking a small toy dog around in a small container) I am frying this dog in my frying pan.

Me: Why?

Monkey: I eat Dog Meat!

File under "Things NOT to do"

If you are like me, you probably find that two hands are often not enough. So, like me, you probably sometimes hold things in your mouth to compensate.

Word of warning, then -

Don't hold duct tape in your mouth, even for a fraction of a second. It will take a layer of skin off your lips like nobody's business. Take my word for it.

We're sick again.

If we were actually well for more than two weeks THAT would be news worthy. The Little One is completely miserable with a cold. He is leaking like a bad faucet and can't nurse because he can't breathe through his nose. Poor thing. And Monkey and I are both under the weather too. (The Music Man, as usual, is right as rain. He's Super-Immunity-Man.)

So, I just wanted to stop in and say, "I have some really good blog posts in my head, but no chance to sit down and write them." Soon. I hope.

(I think our next computer needs to be a laptop...)