What a difference a week makes

I wish I'd taken a picture of my yard last week. I woke up to find that our spring had been buried beneath a growing blanket of fluffy white stuff. My laundry that I'd hung out in the afternoon sunshine the day before looked ridiculous with tiny snowpiles on hanging T-shirts and socks.

Today, it's a different experience altogether. I was sitting on the deck enjoying the sunshine and I had to come inside to change into a tank top and capris so that I didn't melt into a pool of springy warmth. Last week's snow is gone as are most of the piles of snow that accumulated all winter.

Another change from last week is more personal. Last Saturday morning, I ran my longest run of the year. I'd been planning to run outside but the sudden snow resulted in a change in plans involving the treadmill at Intuit. It was a fairly good run. My right leg had been troubling me earlier in the week and it started hurting again around mile 4 but only when I walked so I stopped taking walking breaks.

Anyone see where this is going yet?

Fast forward to today, and instead of completing another 6 mile run I hobbled around the block for a walk with Jack. It was my first real attempt to do anything resembling exercise since last week and it was a frustrating experience. A rather large part of me had been hoping that the pain and stiffness that has persisted all week would work themselves out if I just went for a walk. Nope. I limped and hobbled just as much at the end of the walk as I did at the beginning. I iced it when I got home and I'm just as mucked up now as I was this morning.

So. Ugh. I'd been planning on entering a half marathon clinic with my friend. It's nine days away and I can't even walk, let alone run, the starting distance. Maybe with another week of rest, another trip to the chiropractor, and a massage I'll be feeling fine in time but there's a growing part of me that's losing hope of meeting my goal of running a half marathon this summer. And that just kind of sucks.

Easter craftiness

Today being almost the last possible moment to do Easter crafts, we cleared off the kitchen table and got out our crafting supplies. Before I could put away the spray bottle, though, Lily sat down with it and the comb to pretty herself up. As always seems to happen when kids and water are in the same place, our kitchen was soon a scene of complete mayhem.

Nick kept spraying himself in the face.
Then Lily would spray herself.
Sometimes Nick sprayed Lily, which she quite enjoyed.
Most of the time.

After a bit, we finally got the table dried off and the eggs pulled out. We put the pretty little tablets in the water and got ready for some eggy fun.


Dad even got in on the action with some crayons and dye.

Nick being Nick, he soon moved on from regular crafting to experimenting. My baster became a pipette for mixing colors. Lily quite enjoyed sticking foam cut-outs onto paper. She worked quite intensely for about 30 minutes. Note the look of concentration!

In the end, we had 7 beautiful and unique eggs, 2 sheets covered in foamy bits, and a sink fully of gross-looking water. Happy (almost) Easter!!!

The Business of Being Born

Last night, I went to a screening of Ricki Lake's new documentary, The Business of Being Born. After having an unsatisfying hospital birth and then a life-altering homebirth, Ricki wanted to do something to educate and empower women in regards to homebirths and modern childbirth practices in North America. At first she looked into becoming a midwife but she realized that with the years of education required she would make a quicker and perhaps larger impact by making a documentary.

Edmonton's Association for Safe Alternatives in Childbirth (ASAC) hosted a screening at the Whitemud Crossing Library last night. I excitedly attended with some friends after having read many positive and negative reviews. The tiny theater was stuffed to the brim with people filling each seat and sitting on the stairs and stage while children around in any empty space they could find.

The documentary examines childbirth in North America and compares it to that in other countries. It highlights some significant statistics about the incredibly high cesarean rate in the U.S. (33% nationally, but as high as 40% in some hospitals) as well as the high induction and epidural rates. Also discussed are the relatively high infant and maternal mortality rates and the enormous amount of money spent on hospital childbirths.


The homebirths portrayed in the documentary were beautiful. Women were shown swaying, moaning, and cursing their way through labors, and babies slid out into their mothers' hands in bedrooms and bathtubs. Contrasting this was footage of both 1950's hospital births where women were strapped into beds during "twilight sleep" and modern hospital births where women's labors were managed with drugs and surgeries.

While I've felt for some time that natural childbirth is possible for the majority of women and healthier for both mothers and babies, this documentary got me thinking of birth more from more than just a physical point of view. One interviewee explained how that sense of "I just gave birth. Now I know I can do anything" in new moms is something that we all have the right to experience. When the vast majority of women are having labors that are artificially induced, numbed through epidurals, or even outright preempted through surgery, women in our culture are not experiencing the empowering and rewarding rite that has been a part of womanhood since time began.

Also discussed is the idea of how the hormones released during labour facilitate mother-baby bonding. The "love cocktail" as they call, it helps mothers to respond to their baby's needs and enforces the instinct to protect and nurture their child. If cesareans or inductions stop this hormonal surge from taking place, there can be ramifications in the relationship. The documentary draws a link between the high rate of disrupted bonding and the problems in our society.

I found this to be a very thought and heart-provoking documentary which presents a stark view on modern childbirth in North America. I think it has the power to reach many women and to really lead to a lot of questioning of modern birth practices. As women, we should be educating ourselves about childbirth and not simply going along with the status quo, thinking that putting all our faith in our doctors is the way to ensure the best results. Cesareans, inductions, pain relief, and other interventions are all very valuable tools which have their places in emergency or medically-necessary situations, but birth is a normal and healthy process which women have been experiencing since the beginning of humanity.

The Business of Being Born can now be seen through Netflix and will be available for purchase in May. Go watch it.

Making Mama proud

My kids had a fight today. It was awesome. It went something like this:

Lily: And then he said no more five and then fifteen ("Reading" books out loud to herself in the playroom.)
Nick: Lily! I found The Runaway Pumpkin Book! Do you want me to read it to you?
Lily: No! I's reading!
Nick: I'll read The Runaway Pumpkin to you!
Lily: NOOOOO!
Nick: Here, I'll read it with you. Look.
Lily: No! NOO! I reading! And then he said no more five and then fifteen.

Nick then proceeded to read The Runaway Pumpkin as loud as he could in order to drown out Lily. Lily then "read" her book as loud as she could in an effort to drown him out.

My kids. The rebels.

Veggie-tastic

So, you know that trait of preschoolers where they like to do the same thing over and over and over again? Yeah, Lily is thoroughly entrenched in that whole thing. Every time it's TV time she chooses Toopy and Binoo. She plays with the same baby ("I want my baby Rory!") every single day despite owning about 30 baby dolls.

The most grating of all, though, is her insistence for Veggie Tales music in the car. Now I have nothing at all against Veggie Tales themselves. Bob is amusing. Larry makes me laugh. There's nothing like the French Peas to set our whole family giggling. But the combination of a two-year-old wanting the same music during every drive and a car with speakers in the front only is enough to drive me batty.

At first we listened to Veggie Tales Worship Songs.
Although the song "Come, now is the time to worship" weirds Liam out a bit, the cd as a whole is pretty fun. The story is that there's a kid's choir whose rehearsal director can't make it for practice to Bob the tomato and Larry the cucumber step in. Larry makes a joke about how hard it is to get out of his seat belt without any hands, Bob teaches some Bible verses, and special guest Matt Redman sings a couple of songs with the kids.

By November, though, we were all (except for Lily) getting more than a little bit tired of hearing the same twelve songs over and over. While I was Christmas shopping at Blessings, I came across a Boyz In the Sink cd.

I was so excited! Now, the Boyz did a song on the Worship Songs cd, but we all thought it was a one-time deal. We had no idea that an entire band of veggies had been created on the side!

Equal to my excitement over a newly-discovered veggie band was my excitement over the prospect of having something NEW to listen to in the car. Eleven new songs? Well, technically six of them are remakes of original Veggie Tales songs, but they're pretty fantastic remakes that sound very little like the originals, none of which are on the other cd we own. The cheeseburger song is even a completely different story line so I'm not sure it can technically be considered a remake.

As I've listened to the Boyz cd fifteen thousand times, I've been struck by what a good cd it is. I will admit that I'd often like to turn it off (especially when Lily starts with the "I can't hear it. Turn it louder!") but it's not because the music is bad in a "If I have to listen to Barney laugh one more time I'm going to kill a small animal" kind of way.

I still haven't chosen my favorite, though Funky Polka is pretty darned fantastic. With Larry playing the tuba, some accordion music, and Junior squeaking out his lines, the song makes me laugh a lot. The original Moo Shoo song has always been a big hit in our house and the remake with Apollo Gourd joining in is equally as fun.

Lily's favorite, by far, has got to be the Belly Button song. With guest star Kirk Franklin, the song stops in the middle with the veggies singing "Belly button. Uh uh.". When Lily sings along it comes out as "B-button. Uh uh." Very very cute.

I'm really glad we've found some music that the whole family can enjoy, even if Lily enjoys it to an insane degree. But I guess, really, isn't that what being a two-year-old is all about?

Spring Sun!

Spring is in the air. We're just a couple of weeks past our latest deep-freeze and already the snow is melting and the sun is making me think of my garden. Apparently the kids are thinking the same thing since this is what I found in my back yard yesterday morning.
Yup. They're outside in their jammies.

They went out while I wasn't looking. I was actually quite impressed that they lasted so long without coats or even socks. Lily did have an incident with some snow in her boots (that's what happens when you wear pretty boots instead of winter boots!) but she recovered fairly quickly.


This afternoon we got home from buying groceries and the sun out on the deck was very inviting. Nick took the little table and the chairs out while I made lunch. We ate sandwiches and strawberries in the sun.
Before long, the kids were down on the patio doing what kids to best: splashing in puddles!
Lily is getting quite good at splashing and was soon soaked from head to toe. Since she hadn't quite had her fill yet, she came inside and got dressed in something a little more appropriate for the activity.

I'm starting to feel like spring might actually be in sight. February, my least favorite month of the year by far, is almost over. Even though March is often far from balmy around here, it's somehow so much more bearable than even the last few days of February.

Lapbook a la grenouille

So today the kids and I entered the wonderful world of lapbooking.

(If you don't know what I'm talking about, take a peek here.)

I'd heard of lapbooking before, but I didn't really have a real grasp of what it was until I came across a video this morning. Being a scrapbooking addict, I had to try it out. Nick watched the video with me and we set to work picking out a topic.

We decided to go with frogs as our first lapbook. I found some very neat printable books and Nick was quite excited as he's done his own pond study out at my parents' acreage for the past couple of years.

We started out with a few supplies: print-outs, a folder, scissors, and glue. (Note how "cool Lily" wears her hoodie.)


We cut. And we cut. And then we cut some more.


(No, Nick doesn't brush his hair. He's a homeschooler, don't you know. And the chaos in the background is the fort built out of couch cushions. Ask Liam how much he looooooves the couch cushion forts sometime.)

We also did some gluing. Lily love to be in charge of the glue stick.

Making the lapbook took up most of our day. I think it's because of the many interruptions, such as Lily's sudden burning desire to write in her workbook. She was kind enough to take a moment out for her adoring fans.

There was also the incident of the witch and the wizard invading the kitchen. Lily looks deformed in this picture but I couldn't post any of the other three I took because Nick and Lily riding the broom together looked dirty somehow. Poor kids.

As is typical in our home, the mess grew larger as the day progressed.


Check out my awesome usage of my (I mean Nick's) Usborne encyclopedias. I haven't spent all that time building up my Usborne business for nothing!
So the final picture for this entry was supposed to be a pretty little photo of the mostly-completed lapbook. The card reader on my printer, however, has developed a sudden dislike of my memory card and its light flashes red each time I ask it to upload my photos. I know, I know. I should just call Liam for help but he and Sandy Foster are sharing some quality time in the basement and I don't want to intrude.

Anyhow, imagine picture a beautiful and interactive lapbook on frogs with some blank spaces where the writing should go. Or don't, I guess, but that's not nearly as fun.

A day in the life of...

Some days, I feel like I never get anything done because there's too much getting done in our home. For kicks and for your reading pleasure, I have documented and photographed the makings of my day. It's fairly typical of most days spent at home, other than the fact we didn't go outside because of the disgustingly cold weather.

And so...






8 AM - I wake up to Nick bumping me repeatedly in the back of the head. I try to ignore him as I work on getting Lily to sleep a little longer. Nick eventually wakes Liam up and goes downstairs to watch TV and eat some cereal.

8:15 - Lily is back asleep and I sneak out of bed. Liam comes upstairs to tell me that my friend Leah called to cancel our trip to the Telus World of Science because her son is sick. I'm a bit disappointed, but also greatly relieved not to have to brave the windchill of -46 with two kids.

8:30 - I eat some cereal and check my e-mails. Lily wakes up.

9 - We get dressed. The kids discover the newly-moved dress up box and try on Pokemon, witch, owl, and wizard costumes.

9:45 - Nick and Lily build card houses (well, Nick builds them and Lily wrecks them for the most part). When the furnace comes on both kids excitedly run to the vents to set up "floating cards".

10:30 - We do crafts involving bingo dabbers, paper, cardboard, and chalk.


11 - Nick loses interest in the craft and gets Liam's guitar out of the office. He experiments with strumming and the different sounds he can make by holding down different strings or letting them vibrate. He makes the music that plays when Mario gets a mushroom, and he checks on the piano to make sure he's playing the right notes. He also creates music for "Monkey Jungle", a video game he imagines would be really cool.

11:15 - I put out a plate of snack. I learn that you should not feed finger foods to a toddler who has just been bingo dabbing. I keep my fingers crossed that the blue pieces of apple and red pieces of cracker aren't toxic.

11:30 - We pull out our library books and read through a couple of books on ancient Egypt, our topic of the month. Nick relates them to various stories about Moses.

12 PM - I finally get sick of the dog hair covering everything and I enlist the kids' help to get the living room picked up. I then banish them to the couch as I vacuum so I don't run over any little toes.

(This picture, by the way, is proof that housework really can kill you.)

12:15 - I get lunch ready. Noting that the bread Liam started last night didn't actually rise at all, I resort to plan B: french fries and hot dogs. To ease my guilt over the relatively unhealthy meal, I also do up a plate of veggies and dip. Lily spends most of this time hanging around under my feet. Nick wants her to come play with him so he offers to play "Hit the Nick" with her. He knows that if she gets to hit him she'll be more likely to go and play.

(This is Liam's flat bread)

12:30 - We eat lunch. Nick talks about how the characters from Esther relate to the kings, queens, and jacks in a deck of cards. We discuss monarchies and the current British royal family. Lily does magic tricks with the cards (she flips over each one and declares it a king).


1 - I take Lily upstairs for a nap and Nick starts playing the Wii. After fifteen minutes of discussing the monkey Lily is convinced is living in our curtain, we come to the conclusion that today is not a nap day.

1:15 - Computer time for mom, Wii time for Nick, Lily is running amok.

1:17 - I get tired of Lily running amok and put on some Toopy and Beanoo on the downstairs TV.

2:30 - Lily gets tired of being alone in the basement and comes upstairs for a cup of milk and some company.

2:45 - I get Nick to turn the Wii of with (amazingly) no fighting. We all go downstairs to do laundry. The kids spend the first bit playing and Nick tapes up Lily's hand with masking tape, making her "Super Lil" who can do mega punches.

3:15 - Both kids suddenly decide that the washing machine is extremely interesting. I sit them on it and describe the various settings. Lily decides she's going to explain things too and shows Nick the setting that will "rinse your legs off". (Whatever that means)

4 - Laundry's done. I send some e-mails while the kids putz about. They get grumpy with each other so we all play with Marbleworks in the playroom.

5 - I realize that it's getting late and I re-heat some leftovers for the kids. I make the easy choice of going for an easy supper and the kids eat in the playroom while I read books to them.

5:30 - Where's Liam? I start making a casserole out of leftovers. I love my microwave.

5:45: Where's Liam? The kids are loud. I'm tired. I walk into the playroom to find that Lily's made a huge mess. I insist that they each put five things away before my head explodes.

6 - Where's Liam?

6:15 - Liam's home! The windchill of -40.9 hasn't turned him into a Dadsicle as I'd feared. He has time to get out of his outdoor stuff and pay a quick visit to the washroom before the kids are all over him. I hide in the office, hoping to get five minutes alone.


6:45 - The kids have slowed down in their "attack Dad" game and I come out of hiding. Liam finally gets to eat supper. (No, he wasn't eating the bingo dabbers. I'm just slow at cleaning.)
7 - Lily and I clean the bathroom. Lily takes a "dry bath".

7:30 - I announce that it's snack time. Nick points out that he never had his dessert he asked for at 5:30. The kids eat lollipops, the slowest dessert EVER.

8 - Snack is over. Multiple meltdowns have taken place. PJ's are donned, teeth are brushed.

8:20 - The little people are sleeping. Time to sit in front of a screen or scrapbook.

And there you have it.

Family Photos

If you can ignore the chocolate all over her face, she looks adorable.














Serious, serious Jack.


















A self-portrait, since I don't think I've let anyone else use my camera yet.









Slightly out of focus happy guy.
















Tired Nick. Connor's Hill is hard on a young guy like him.

Tis the Season

Christmas is three days away. Christmas Eve, when our family begins our celebrations, is two days away. Holy crap.

Am I ready? Sort of.

I bought materials to make homemade Christmas cards for friends and family back in October, but by late November I'd decided to abandon the project. Next year.

We were going to have our second annual Christmas party and gift exchange a couple of weeks ago, but I was overwhelmed by the amount of work that had to be done and we de-invited the few people we'd already talked to.

So, of the things left in place that are happening this Christmas I'm doing fairly well. I think I'm done shopping as of this morning when I made a last trip to Blessings and Zellers. Liam has done some of our wrapping and a few things (thankfully) don't need to be wrapped. We decorated cookies with Grandma and we made a trip to Candy Cane Lane.

Looking back on the month, I sort of wish we'd done more seasonal activities. With homeschooling it feels like we should have all sorts of time for crafts, outings, and reading but the reality is often that our days are full and jamming in extra things is next to impossible. I want to feel the spirit of the season and I don't think that involves me screeching at the kids and baking til midnight.

Anyhow, on that quasi-positive note, I hope everyone has a fantastic Christmas. May your kids sleep lots, may your kitchens stay clean, and may the memory of a baby in a manger fill your day with peace and joy.

Move it...and lose it

Back at the beginning of November, I started doing something very out of character: I began working out at the gym. Shocking, but true.

I made the decision to start working out regularly as the result of a few different factors such as my weight creeping up, feeling the need for some personal time, and a lack of energy. I realized one day that I could actually use the gym at Liam's work and that it would be reasonably easy to do so with my family willing to provide childcare and Lily being old enough to be away from me for a few hours at a time.

So for just over a month I've been going to the gym on a regular basis (usually twice a week but I'm trying to do three times a week). I've been making use of the elliptical machine, the rowing machine, the treadmill, and the weights.

The first time I went was a bit of an adjustment as I figured out the machines and my fitness level, but the biggest thing that stood out for me was how fantastic it was to be alone. Liam and some other people were working out, but I could tune out the world by cranking the volume on my MP3 player. Showering and getting changed after my workout was quite nice, too. It was a novelty getting through an entire shower without anyone telling me they needed something and drying my hair without anyone asking to be blasted with the hair dryer every three seconds.

After a few weeks, I decided to check into some races through the Running Room. It's been 5 1/2 years (and a baby and 50 lbs) since I ran my half-marathon and I really miss running. There are a bunch of 5K and 10K races between now and the summer, but what really stood out for me is the half-marathon in July. It's a nature run, which I think would be fantastic since I very much prefer running on trails to running on pavement. Part of me is sure I can be ready for such a big run in 30 weeks, but another part of me is very intimidated and pessimistic.

The biggest challenge I'm facing right now is due to a bad sprain from a couple of years ago when I took a spill down some stairs. I've got weakness in my ankle and when I run for a significant period of time I get to the point where I'm almost dragging my foot. Very annoying. I've been mixing running with other cardio activities so I can at least drop some weight and get more fit. I'm contemplating contacting a personal trainer or getting a referral to physiotherapy so I can get some specific exercises on strengthening my ankle/leg.

So there you have the latest adventure in the life of Kim. I'll keep you updated as my jeans get looser.

Lily-sized fun

I love Lily. She's cute, she's funny, she smells good, and she mimics me. It's all pretty cool.

Sometimes, though...I tell you.

Tonight, we missed out on going to Beavers with the guys because of a pair of shoes. Lily wanted to wear her "These are pretty but much too big so I can't walk in them" green shoes and Mom said no. Once I decided that an evening out of the house wasn't worth the hassle, she switched it up to "I want it mine car! Go Beavers!" Fun.

Once things calmed down, she requested a ride on my shoulders. Sure thing. Once up there, she insisted on drinking a cup of apple juice. While sitting on my shoulders.

When it was time for bedtime snack, she skipped the regular cereal and fruit stage and went right to insisting on cake. My reply that we had none only made things worse.

Seriously, I don't know about her sometimes. She comes up with these ideas and these phrases and I have no idea what's going on in her little brain.

The other afternoon for example, she was throwing around the ceramic baby Jesus from the nativity scene. When I told her to go put it back she replied with "No. I LOVE Jesus".

On the weekend, she saw me gluing down a scrapbook page and spend 15 minutes straight wailing "I want it mine goo-ooo!". It doesn't look nearly as amusing in writing as it sounded in person, mainly because I can't adequately explain the repetitive two-tone "goo-oo" sound that still makes me giggle.

This evening, she asked who was signing on the radio. When I answered that it was Amanda Marshall, she insisted I was wrong because it was a woman and not a man. She promptly changed the name to Panda Marshall and was quite happy with that.

There really are no dull moments around here with the Lil on the loose. Every day she proves my theory that toddlers are people like the rest of us, only smaller. And faster. And insane. And indestructible. And unpredictable. But otherwise just like adults.

Homeschooling update

Alright, I will succumb to the peer pressure. Or spousal pressure I suppose.

I'd started out this entry meaning to give an update on what's been going on in my life, and somehow a rambling post about homeschooling came out. It's fitting, I suppose, as homeschooling is a large focus of my life (and time!) these days. So, rather than an update about all my activities, here is an update on our life as homeschoolers:

I started out the year thinking we'd go with a semi-structured approach to homeschooling, having a morning routine that included all of our book work as well as chores. A couple of weeks into it I felt that things weren't really that interesting and Nick was feeling less than enthusiastic about his work. I experimented with different scheduling for a few weeks until I came to the conclusion which I'd been to intimidated to realize before then: we're unschoolers. For anyone who isn't familiar with the term, unschooling is also called delight-driven learning and the basic idea is that real learning takes place when a child's interests inspire them to learn about something. Each unschooler you ask will likely have a slightly different definition of what unschooling looks like to them, and my interpretation is that I provide Nicholas and Lily with materials and experiences which will likely facilitate their learning. I follow their leads, making suggestions, offering help, and learning beside them.

Some days we read for hours, either fiction (Charlotte's Web and Alice in Wonderland have been our latest) or non-fiction (thank you giant stack of Usborne reference books!). Some days the kids build and create with materials ranging from giant cardboard boxes to clay (which you apparently need to bake at the right temperature if you don't want to fill your house with smoke...). We've done some science experiments, done some workbooks, and played board games. We bake, we do laundry, we paint, and we sing songs.We've spent many hours outside playing and investigating and enjoying this amazing fall weather we've been blessed with this year. We've also taken part in a football clinic and a tour of a pottery studio, and we'll be taking part in a weaving clinic next month.

There are many treasures in homeschooling that I hadn't predicted and this experience is so rewarding. It's satisfying to watch my children learning and growing and I appreciate that I get to enjoy so many more hours of this than I would if Nick were in school all day. Our pace of life has slowed significantly as I'm learning to do what is in our family's best interest.

My only regret so far is that we didn't make the switch from public school last year as we'd considered, but it's not something I dwell on. Sometimes I struggle with finding time for myself, especially since Lily is at that stage right now where if she naps she tends to stay up until 10 pm, but being involved in LLL, Usborne books, and a few other things gives me a reason to get out of the house alone. And I of course periodically have those moments of "What in the world was I thinking? I'm going to mess up my kids!" but I've thankfully got a fantastic support system which helps me to get back to a place where I can realize that I'm doing the right thing.

So..yeah. That's what's been going on with me. What's been going on with all of you?

Bloggy, my bloggy

Oh my blog, I've kind of ditched you.
This fall my entries have been quite few.
Those kids of mine always on the go
They keep me on my toes you know.
The kitchen always looks like it should be swept
And I never seem to feel like I've slept.
Don't get me wrong, I'm having a blast
And I know these days just won't last.
But the crafts, the books, the parks, and the dog
They make it hard to update my blog!

Oh Happy Day!

My poor neglected blog. *sigh* You'd almost think it was summer vacation or something.

So, today is our third wedding anniversary. Yup, the years are just rolling on by. It seemed like the day would be a fairly plain Jane kind of event but I was pleasantly surprised.

The kids and I spent a quiet morning at home getting some cleaning done and I lamented the fact that I hadn't worked on Liam's anniversary gift (a small scrapbook of our relationship) or even written a card for that matter. At lunchtime I took the kids out to my parents' house and once the Lil was asleep I made a hasty retreat to South Edmonton common.

The real fun began when I got to spend $50 at Old Navy and $25 at Reitman's without spending a dime. The Old Navy gift cards were from an award Liam had won at work and the other ones were a Christmas gift from the in-laws. It pays to forget about your gifts for 8 months because it's like Christmas all over again!

I left the stores with a pair of jeans, three tank tops, a button-up blouse, and a knit shirt. Not a bad haul for $75, thanks to the discount racks!

After shopping I hit Spasation where I used yet another gift card (thanks again Bob and Peggy!) to get my hair cut. I got chewed out a bit by the hairdresser for going so long between trims and she took a fair bit off the ends since they were so wrecked. My hair feels very short now that it's not to my waist! It looks nice though so I won't complain too much.

My next stop was to pick Liam up from work. We headed home to get ready for dinner and I got to show him all my new clothing. I got all dressed up and we headed out for dinner.

Dinner. Yum! Yet *another* gift card (from my parents this time) purchased us two buffet dinners at Taste of India, our new favourite restaurant. (We've considered calling it "our" restaurant but the past two joints which have been dubbed such have ceased to exist so we're hoping not to jinx this one.) Between the melt-in-your-mouth butter chicken and the divine sweets we were thoroughly sated.

To top off all these pleasant dining and retail experiences, we've had some fantastic news today.

First off, my parents' anniversary gift is to forgive the $20 000 loan we took out from them in order to buy our house. Yup. Liam almost fell over when we found out. This frees us up from the monthly payments we'd been making and takes an enormous amount of stress off of us. Let's hear it for early inheritance!!

Next, I found out that I will indeed be working at an Usborne table on Friday at a literacy-type fair. And to make the deal even sweeter two friends are also going to have a table set up to promote their business. So now not only do I get to earn some extra bucks and get some leads for future shows, I get to hang out with friends for the afternoon!

All in all today has been a fantastic sort of day. It's certainly nowhere near the very joyous day of thee years ago, but it's a smaller echo of the day-long happiness. It's days like these that remind me of how fun and uplifting life can be.

Le sigh

It's one of those days. I feel like a bad Mommy and anyone who had been in my house today would agree.

Nick's bored. Lily won't sleep despite hours of trying to convince her to. The house is a mess. It's very very hot. I need to pack for Vancouver. I'm on phones today. I oopsed on an Usborne order and I need to sort it out. I'm drowning.

I've been a total jerk to the kids and I know it. I hate it.

They're gone to the mall with Grandma right now, thank goodness. Maybe her niceness will make up for my grumpiness.

July??

Have you ever had one of those months where you wonder where the days have gone? Yeah, I'm having that kind of month and it's only July 2.

Looking at my calendar, I've realized just how busy this month is going to be. I've got a few friends I'm booking playdates/coffee/scrapbooking dates with. Throw in a week-long camp for Nick at my old church and there go another five days. I'm also planning to have my garage sale in a couple of weeks, which will require a number of prep days as well as three or four days of sitting by the driveway. LLL will take up another chunk of time with a meeting to plan and lead as well as three phone days. I'm hosting an Usborne books party at my house and I'll be attending my first info evening for consultants next week.

Then there's the out of town stuff. My parents are hoping to take Nick camping for a few nights (this thankfully overlaps with my LLL meeting as well as my Usborne party!). We're also fleshing out our plans to visit with family in Vancouver for a week and a half or so.

As Liam and I looked at the calendar yesterday, I pointed out how nothing is going on next Saturday. He took my calendar pen and wrote "NOTHING" on that square and told me in a very firm tone that he's serious. I've been told.

The end is near!

There are 15 days of school left.

I'm excited like you wouldn't believe. Every morning when we struggle to get Nick out the door at 7:30 to catch the bus, Liam and I share a mini countdown moment. "18 more mornings of this." The end won't come fast enough.

Besides the morning crunch, there are a number of other reasons I'm excited about summer break. Nick needs a vacation and it's showing. My view of school has also been shifting over the past number of months since we decided to homeschool in the fall and so many things now stand out that I never focused on before. Why does Nick have to do page after page of math questions for homework when he's moved so far beyond the material they're covering? Is it really all that important that he completes every shred of homework when the sun is shining so beautifully?

On the positive side of things, I'm anticipating homeschooling with great excitement. I've been doing a lot more reading lately and I'm getting a better idea all the time of how I'd like to approach things. I've also been meeting more homeschooling families through park days and other get-togethers and each time I hear about other families' successes I feel reaffirmed in our decision.

This weekend I went to a garage sale that was being put on by a homeschooling family who needed to thin out their shelves. I picked up a nice big stack of books for $10 and the kids have been acting like it's Christmas. I got some math workbooks, some reading books, a book on maps, a book on weather, and some foam calendars among other things. Nicholas found a math book that's geared for the grade four level and he was excited about challenging himself. He completed some activities on using multiples (with help from his Mom who really had to think hard) and then went on to do some pages from the Bible Fun Pad. Yup, mazes for Moses and Pharaoh connect-the-dots.

We sent in our registration to our new school board last week and I'm waiting quite anxiously to hear back from them. The whole plan of homeschooling has been floating around in our home for quite some time and making a concrete step like registering with a school board adds a definite touch of reality to it.

I need to actually take all these ideas I have and put them on paper so I can create a plan to review with a facilitator. I need to overhaul the office so I can properly organize the growing piles of homeschooling materials. I need to take a deep breath and remind myself that things don't have to be perfect come September.

Sometimes it's the little things

This morning, though only 3 hours old, has had a number of frustrations. We got a late start to the morning, I almost got sideswiped by a dumb driver, and Lily wouldn't stay in the cart at the grocery store.

After unloading my groceries in the car, though, the whole tone of my morning changed. An elderly man who was headed in the opposite direction with a cart of his own offered to return my cart for me. I'm not sure if he was prompted to perform the kind deed because it was the gentlemanly thing to do or if he was taking pity on me since I was pushing the cart with one hand and toting Lily around with the other.

Whatever his reasons, it made me happy. Small moments of kindness from strangers are very touching, and I'm a total sucker for chivalrous acts. It's amazing how one small gesture can have such an effect.


On a totally different note, I got too close to the patchouli oil when I was sniffing it and I got some on my nose. Now the whole world smells like patchouli to me.

What the hell??

So, Nick came home from school today yet with another brochure about a summer camp. I think this is the fifth one so far. While I think some of them look kind of nifty (especially the soccer one) I haven't looked into them much so far.

The one today, however, was rather exceptional. There was the run-of-the-mill "drop off your kids each morning for a week and we'll do fun stuff" as well as a "week at the beach" camp. As I looked at the beach one, I saw that the campers are to be dropped off on Monday morning and picked up on Friday night. They're to head out to Alberta Beach and spend the nights in the dorm-type facilities. Next, I noticed the camp is open to children who are currently in grades 1 through 6.

Who in their right mind would send a six-year-old off with strangers for FOUR NIGHTS??! Personally, I wouldn't be comfortable sending Nick on any type of overnight camp without a parent there, but I'm willing to see that there are other kids his age who would be up for one night. But four nights? Heck no.

I'm totally blown away by how many camps and activities there are for kids during the summer months, most of which have early drop offs and late pickups so children can be kept occupied for up to 11 hours each day.

I look forward to spending the summer months with my kids doing fun summer things. There are beaches, playgrounds, the back yard, hiking trails, and campgrounds which are ours for the visiting.

When I look back on my childhood summer vacations, my memories are made up of eating popsicles in the backyard with the neighbor kids, building sandcastles at the beach with my brother, going camping with my family, and so much more. The days ran into each other and I delighted in not even knowing which day of the week it was.

That's the stuff summer is made up of, not getting out the door at 6:30 each day to get to camp or spending a week away from home at the age of 6. But hey, that's just my opinion.