At this very moment...

I came downstairs from vacuuming to find my children all anxiously engaged in a good cause. Moments like this make me feel like I must be doing something right, or else I'm just extremely blessed. Or both.


(And yes, my husband made me that swing the other day... for my birthday. I'm a lucky girl.)

Learning to Leap

I've been overwhelmed recently.
Too much to do, and too little time. I know most everyone can relate.
But the hard part for me is being stretched to do and try new things that I've never done before, either don't want to do, or don't think I can.

This summer Miss J and her friend have been attending a weekly ballet class put on by an amazing woman and mother that I admire. She has offered this class to the community free of charge (amidst her experience and fabulous resume), and it has been worth so much. I can't believe how much Miss J has learned and how far she has come. She has been, literally, stretched. She is amazing!

And so I have watched her each week and learned that little by little I can learn to stretch myself too. I hope.

Another Decade

Aside from the "ABCDEFG" song, this is his favourite ballad to sing. I'm the recipient of this song quite often... but decided to post this clip (from last month) today, because... well it's my 30th birthday!
(Don't forget to pause the music at the bottom first.)

Imaginary Friends

One of the best things about having multiple children is knowing about the different stages. The best thing about knowing about stages, is knowing that they are JUST stages and they won't (most likely) last long. And while there is great joy in that knowledge, there is also a bit of excitement when you get to experience one of the good stages again. We've recently hit the "imaginary friend" stage with The Toddler. And boy howdy, I had forgotten just how fun this stage can be. I seriously can hardly wipe the smile off my face. We've had such a variety of imaginary friends in our lives and home... it's hard to keep track of them. Some favourites have been "baby girl" who was constantly stuck up in a tree which would need to be climbed so she could be rescued, there was "Peter Pan" who always needed to sit in the seat I would rather sit on, and there was "my friend" who would tell a certain somebody to say bad words or do mean things (on second thought, that one is not a favourite, but definitely memorable).

The Toddler, who is probably the biggest liar in the house, has been talking about his "teacher" for months now. For a while I thought he was talking about his Sunday nursery teacher at church. Then I realized he was just trying to compensate for all the stories his siblings had about their teachers. But now his "teacher" has taken up with some new friends and even more stories. "My teacher makes me popcorn and gives me fruit snacks." "My teacher tells me I can stay up late and not go to bed when Mommy says." "My teacher read me lots of stories. I can't read. But my teacher read to me all day long. Mommy only read me and then stops."

Teacher rocks.

But now there's "Grandma" and even "the girlfriend." I'm getting jealous.

"Grandma gave me that toy and say I don't have to share it." - Which actually sounds like it could be true, except that it's his brother's lego that he bought with his own money.

"Grandma tell me I can ride my bike in the street." "Grandma makes me popcorn and chocolate chips and I don't ever brush my teeth." - What's with all the popcorn?

The other day in the car the kids were divulging their recent crushes. I force them to - since I'm their mother and need to know what to tease them about. They are always fiercely aware of anybody who may be sitting around them, since that's how Mr. Man and I met, and exceptionally keen to anyone nudging or kicking. The Toddler was not going to be left out of the conversation:

"My girlfriend kick me in the stomach. And hurt me. On purpose."

We all played along and expressed our deepest sympathy while laughing behind covered mouths.

I love this stage.

Long Summer Day

The boy was upset over what I was serving for dinner and marched off... after dinner I found him here:
I forgave him immediately for hating my cooking. Isn't he sweet?

Reminds me of THIS GUY.

The Roaring 20s

Last night I was lamenting with a friend that there are merely days before I hit the ripe old age of 30. And yes, the thought brought tears to my eyes. "What have I done with my life?" I asked. Her reply, "you have a nine year old" made me realize that while my twenties are nearing a grand finale, I have done something great and wonderful with them. No diplomas (yet), no awards, no titles, no magnum opuses, very little recognition or compensation and not a penny to my own hard-working name... but I have been utterly and completely immersed in motherhood.

If you knew me in my teens, you knew that I had grand goals for my life and was very outspoken when it came to marriage and motherhood. Basically I wanted neither... at least until I had managed to make a difference in the world and fulfill my goals in life.

Marriage came early for me and swept me off my feet. Nobody stopped me to tell me how young I really was, but I love who I married and I love that I have somebody who shares more than ten years of the same memories I do. Somebody to take walks with, holding hands, recollecting and dreaming.

And then, just to make all my "plans" a laughing stock, serendipity hit again and I soon became a mother. Postpartum depression sucked all the happiness out of me for almost a year and a half, and yet the true blessing that it left me was the inability to do anything but attempt at existing. My goals, my dreams... everything took the back burner while I tried to get through each day at a time. By the time I was blessed with relief, I was grounded and focused on my family first and foremost. You see, I never planned to be a mother, let alone a stay-at-home-mom, and postpartum depression forced me into a career that I had no idea I would love as much as I do.

I can't tell you how many diapers I have changed, owies kissed, swings pushed, books read, meals made or hugs given. But if anyone asks, that is what I've been doing with my life. And I only hope my 30s will bring more of the same... and then some.