40 eve

Tomorrow I turn 40.  I'll have more to say about that tomorrow, for now I just want to say: Hi!  How've y'all been doin'?

It's been a while.  A LONG while.  So sorry.

I've been preoccupied with selling 105 cases of Girl Guide cookies.  I was starting to dream about Girl Guide cookies although, ironically, I can't even eat the damn things since they're chalk full of gluten.

Other things have been going on in my life as well.  I've done some stuff, learned some new things, made some decisions, done stuff with the kids.  Such as:

I'm learning to do this:

First try.  Not bad.  Will get better.  Homemade fondant.

And yesterday I did this:

Definitely good for a first go.  Too sweet though.

And last week I did this:

Major cutbacks happening in Ottawa!

After previously looking like this (it was actually a few inches longer than this even):

Major improvement.  Who's the hippie?!

And a few days ago I made this:

It's time to get fascinating.  This will be my headwear at a tea in June celebrating dear Liz's long reign.

 

 

This week I also attended (and helped with) Hope's first t-ball game and Emily's first baseball game of the season.  I also watched Emily rule the stage during the talent show as she showed off her made hooping skills.  I'm planning my birthday shindig for Saturday.  Eating too much of that darn cake above and making promises to get outside and move my jiggly butt more.  I've been gardening and redesigning the garden and loving every minute of it.

And now, it's time to say goodbye to my thirties.  Tomorrow I wake up 40 and fabulous!

Two big days

The first big day this week:

Both Emily and Hope were very excited for their first day. Emily couldn't wait to see everyone and find out who her teacher would be. By the end of yesterday she declared Grade 2 to be the "best thing ever!" (although the protests I received trying to get her out of bed this morning would make you think the opposite). Hope was beside herself with excitement about starting full-day kindergarten. She started with just half her class and had a great day.

However.

She was back for her first "real" day today with her entire class (after having yesterday off so that the other half of her class could transition in). We arrived at the kindie yard to find every manner of helicopter parents milling around with their kids, many of them videotaping their kids... doing what? looking confused? waiting for their teacher? Now that makes for some riveting home movies!

Anywho, Hope didn't have any idea who these people were, she only saw one kid she recognized and, to make the whole situation a lot worse, her teacher wasn't in the yard. The only teachers were a myriad of ECE teachers that she didn't know. She went in, became a deer in headlights and burst into tears. And this is a kid who was jumping out of her pants to get to school every day last year and never cried once.

I stayed with her as long as I could, delivered Emily to her yard (where Miss Sympathy kept asking me what Hope's problem was... I do not see a career for her that would require a bedside manner of any kind), and then raced back to Hope to fulfill my promise of seeing her again before she went inside. I was happy to find that Mrs. B was outside, the bus carrying all of her regular classmates from last year had arrived and she was holding the door for her class. I caught her attention, blew her a kiss, wiped away a few tears (my own, not hers) and came home.

Parenting can really break your heart.


But, now onto the second big day this week:

Where does a newly-turned five-year-old want to have her breakfast? Cora's, of course!

John was able to clear the decks yesterday to celebrate with us over breakfast. Emily however was at school. "Not fair!"

Henry didn't give a rip that it was Hope's birthday. Just leave me to my melon, woman!

Last night we celebrated with Emily and dear friend, Anna, along with spaghetti and cupcakes. The big party happens on Saturday.

Not sure if she really likes birthdays though.

Most of yesterday was spent doing a few Girl Guide-related errands and then baking the cupcakes before we got Emily from school. As we left a local school where I went to hang a poster, Hope turned to me and said: "Um, I think you're forgetting something." Me: "What?" Hope: "I think you're forgetting that it's my birthday because we're just doing regular stuff." Priceless. This followed a not-so-gracious response to her birthday gift in the morning, which was one Barbie (she got her big gift, a scooter, in the spring): "Well, I was hoping there would be a lot more Barbies in this bag. Oh well, I'll get more from my friends this weekend."

This kid is a classic (and although it was pretty funny, I did also have a talk with her about greediness and graciousness).

1 year ago: Henry's birth story in photos

It's been a year. One full, wonderful, amazing year and it seems like it was just yesterday and it seems like we've never been without him.

It's been a year and I haven't posted his birth story. I'm going to start writing it today. I still get emotional when I think about the drama of Henry's birth and maybe that's why I still haven't written it down. For now, here's a photographic look back at one year ago today (starting with what I did just before the birth started).

A trip to the salon. Good thing I did that because I wouldn't go again until 8 months later.

Hope's graduation from preschool. I think my laughing (to the point of almost losing control of my faculties) at Hope exposing herself in a church to approximately 200 people is what caused my water to break that night.

Preparing for the homebirth that didn't happen.

Walking to the hospital for IV #2. We didn't leave the hospital again until Henry was in our arms.

My amazing midwife, Mina, hooks up the IV for the penicillin. Dang that GBS. Gets me every time.

Getting a little help from John.

Looking a lot more chipper than I was probably feeling.

After the epidural (it ended up being the right decision as I had to push him out extremely fast to get him breathing again... 4 minutes of pushing and he was out. That's when I thanked God for the epidural).

Almost ready to push. He was actually born at 4:30 - the clock there is just before 4:00.

First photo of Henry. This part doesn't bring back great memories. He wasn't moving or breathing but they had him pink and screaming a few minutes later. The longest few minutes of our lives.

See? Pink and screaming.

And huge. 3.96 kilos. 8 lbs 11 oz.

First moments with Daddy.

Measuring time. I love the squishy pinkness of just-born babies.

First moments with Mummy. That grey hair was earned during your birth, Henry.

First moments with Aunt Sue. John's sister was there for the labour and delivery. She is massage therapist extraordinaire and was so amazing through the whole thing.

First feeding.

And ready to eat again.

Look who's two!

Hope, my wee baby, turned two today! We had friends, Ron and Meredith and kids over and Mike, Cibele and Sophia. It was loud, messy and oh, so much fun. Hope had a great time. The food was yummy, if a bit late getting on the table (church obligations this morning, the involved Dora cake (see last year's efforts - at least I had done it once before speeding this year's process up a bit) and a clingy newly-two year old meant everything got on the bbq and on the cutting board later than planned).

The Dora cake, by the by, turned out even better than last year although I forgot to get a good picture of it. You'll have to watch the video instead:




Hope's favourite gifts of the evening were the frog backpack from Beth and the Mr. Potato Head from Omi. A close second were her new baby, the baby-doll Baby Bjorn, the baby-doll exersaucer and the puzzles (not yet fully explored). In other words, she loved everything.

Happy birthday, sweet pea.

Final party post

This will be my last mention of Emily's birthday party for a while. Probably until next year when I have to think about another one.

The party was great. It went way better than I expected. The kids loved the activities and those were broken up well with time to just play on their own in the backyard and playroom in the basement.


The first thing we did was put on the aprons I made for each of the kids. Then we got started making the pizza dough. The kids gathered around the dining room table and got messy kneading the dough. After the dough was done and rising we went outside, they played a bit while the adults (my trusty helpers and me) set up the cookie making stations.


Each kid had their own station outside with all the ingredients they might want to use to make cookies: flour, baking soda and salt mixed together; butter; Smarties; Clodhoppers; vanilla; cinnamon; raisins; brown sugar; an egg; and a few other things I can't remember. The kids LOVED this activity. They loved getting to decide what went in there and mix it all by themselves. It was really interesting to see each of their personalities dictate how they made the cookies. For example, Emily dumped everything in at once and went at it. I could have predicted that. They got to shape the cookies too of course. After all that we baked them and tasted and decided who had the smoothest, biggest, lumpiest, best decorated and fastest mixed (Emily of course) cookies. Each kid had a prize.


After that it was more play time and then we set to making pasta. I made the dough the night before so they just had to crank it through the machine. They each really liked that although Emily and Daria liked it best. They kept cranking long after the other kids had gone back to playing.


After that they played in the basement while we cleaned and got the stuff out for making pizzas. Emily opened her gifts, the kids made their pizzas and then we all ate. By then the house was full of other parents who I'd (crazily) invited back for "grown-up pizza".


I was exhausted at the end, the house was a minor disaster but man, did those kids have a great time! Emily L-O-V-E-D it! She kept telling me over and over again how much she loved it. That made the exhaustion and days of preparation worth it.



Although I'm really really glad that her birthday only comes once a year.

I'm not sure I'll do a party of this scale next year. I think I'll go on a two-year rotation of big preparation party and easier party.

I have to send out HUGE thanks to Meredith for helping me organize, set-up and wash everything, and to Pam who took all the pictures and helped when help was needed with anything. Thanks guys!

To my 4-year old

Dear Emily,

You are 4 years old today, a fact that you have let no one forget! You are almost as excited to be 4 as you were to have your first real birthday party. And that's saying a lot.

After the big party on Saturday, I knew that we would spend today doing normal, everyday things; the kinds of things we do every day and the kinds of things I will always think of when I think of our weekdays together, just the three of us. And that's what we did.

We started off by going to the bank and opening your first bank account. You were so excited when the bank lady told you to sign your own name and you did it in both spaces. She gave you your own pass book and a princess colouring book because it was your birthday. You now love the bank.

After that we deposited your money from Omi and withdrew $20 to buy a toy. Then we went to the Parkdale Farmer's Market, ate raspberries out of the basket, you and Hope played at the park right next to the Market and then we zipped over to the toy store so you could spend your money on some furniture for your new doll house.

When we got home we shucked corn on the back porch, had corn and ham roll-ups for lunch, and then you and I fell asleep together on your bed. When you woke up we started making sushi, your request for your birthday supper, and had a great time doing it together. We've only done it twice but it is becoming one of my favourite things to do together in the kitchen after making cookies. We ate a lot of sushi and then the four of us went to Purple Cow for ice cream. We chatted with a few friends who walked by and now you are calling me from upstairs telling me you need to check your email.

Really, a perfect day for both of us I'd say.

You are such a great kid in so many ways and the last year has driven that home even more. If I had to qualify what the past year has been for you I'd say it was the year of The Curious. You started being curious about everything; you want to know how things work, why things happen, what we're doing, what Hope is doing. I've tried to foster that by looking for answers to things I don't know, mostly at the library, and by trying to explain things in detail and with patience. I don't always succeed with the last one. At the end of the day, I'll admit that I sometimes am tired of the questions but I'm working on still answering you. I never want to squash that inquisitive spirit of yours. It's going to take you far.


You are shy. You've had a number of anxious moments in the past year when you're faced with new experiences or even relatives or friends you haven't seen in a while. You'll often hang back and then get more and more worked up about how shy you feel. I hope that Junior Kindergarten will help you work this out. I don't want you to miss out on some of the fun that you keep yourself from.

You are so so so excited about starting JK in September. You have already drawn a picture for your teacher. She is so lucky to have you in her class. She has no idea, but she will. I'm envious of her discovery of you. I already know how amazing you are but I still remember that discovery unfolding and would love to relive that again.


You are also very challenging. Somedays I feel like the Grumpy Mummy because I've been on you all day about your behaviour. Somedays you are just downright grumpy yourself. You struggle lately with remembering to be polite. You are always very demanding and this is what wears me out the most at the end of the day. Having said all that though, you're still awesome and I wouldn't trade you for anyone anywhere. I'm so glad you are you.

You keep me laughing; you love to play games (which is so great because I love to play them too even if they are kids' games); you are very silly; you love to dance and sing and put on "shows"; you love to play outside, investigate things in nature, dig in the garden, collect things; you LOVE to cook and bake, thus the cooking-themed birthday part and your declaration on your JK intake form that Jamie's Family Dinners is one of your favourite books; you are still the most affectionate child I've ever met and all my friends are envious of me because of that; you always start the day snuggling with me in our bed; you often ask for snuggles during the day; you still want to hold my hand, sit on my lap, give me kisses; I do not take this for granted and never will; you love friends, particularly playing with Nevan, Ella, Rebecca, Mimi, Kennedy and Claire, and of course, Hope.


You and Hope are very close. You give each other kisses and hugs every night before you go to bed. You are often the first person Hope asks about when she wakes up and if Hope is having a long nap and you aren't having a nap at all, you ask if she is up yet. Yesterday as we walked home from the park, Hope was cuddled up into your chest in the Chariot. You had your arms around her and she was hugging you while she rested in your arms. I choked back a tear or two. Daddy was a little overcome too. We love how close you are.

That doesn't mean you don't have arguments. You have a lot of them. But I also know that comes with being sisters. I just hope the hugs last for a long time.

I recently decided to extend my leave from work for at least two more years and that is in no small party because of you. I just don't want to be away from you and Hope.

Thanks for being you, Emmy. You make my life wonderful in so many ways, in some ways I'm not even aware of yet.

You are the perfect 4-year-old for me.

Love
Mummy

All done but the crying

The party went great. The kids LOVED the cooking theme. Emily had a great, great time. The kids all played together really well.

More tomorrow or sometime. I'm so wiped out.

In the heat of battle

I'm approaching the 11th hour on the birthday party. Things are pretty well organized but there is still lots to do.... and I've been doing stuff all day.

The helium balloons are in place, the house is as clean as it's going to get, the deck is cleanish, the pasta maker is primed, the pasta dough is the in the fridge, the pizza dough is also in the fridge (backup in case of diaster with the dough the kids will make), I have a list of cookie ingredients I have to set out tomorrow morning, tables are arranged for cookie making stations but one still has to be put together in the morning, I still have to move all the play stuff out of the yard and onto the city property behind us.

The cake is made and.... it..... is...... awesome!

See?!?!


Okay, my camera doesn't do it justice at all. It really looks better than that.

I, who generally sucks at cake decorating, pulled it off. My only major concern is that the jelly in the middle will run over night and meld into the sprinkles. It is currently in the fridge so hopefully that will keep the jelly well congealed.

Deep breath.

I still have a bit of cooking to do tonight and then the rest is for tomorrow.

I hope I have fun. So far? Not so much.

What's keeping me away

I'm still in vacation mode which equals no interest in blogging. But I fear that you, my readers, are dropping off like flies. It's not that I don't have anything to write about, it's just that I don't feel like writing anything. The weather, while sketchy, still drives me outside to the garden, to the playground, just to sitting on the deck. In the evening, I'm knitting or sewing.

Sewing. It's been a long, long time since my poor sewing machine has seen any significant action. It's been even longer for the serger. But yesterday I got that poor beast humming again. Emily's birthday party is fast approaching, August 9, which means I'm already slightly stressed about it. This is Emily's first real birthday party, which means me against a bunch of preschoolers.

Her party is a cooking party. I settled on this theme for her because, as you all know, Emily loves cooking and baking. So, here are my plans: first, we're going to make the pizza dough that will become our lunch. I had always planned to do the dough myself before hand (and I will have some extra on hand in case the kid-made stuff fails) but then after reading through Shan's WCW post this week, I decided to have the kids do the work. After the pizza dough making, we're going to head outside for a little Just Like Mom action. For those of you unlucky enough not to have grown up in Hamilton, Toronto or the Niagara Region, Just Like Mom was a CTV game show based on the Newlywed Game where moms had to guess their kids' answers to questions. The last segment of the show, The Bake Off, saw the kids making cookies. The moms had to taste them and guess which one belonged to their kid. Typical ingredients included ketchup and relish. I just happened to find a clip of The Bake Off on Youtube. It is definitely worth watching.

We're going to do our own cookie Just Like Mom game show. Each kid will have their own station and have to mix up their dough. Then we'll bake them and all get a taste test. Prizes will be for best cookie, yuckiest cookie, funniest, prettiest, I still have to work out the different prize categories. Oh, better put prizes on my "to do" list.

After that we're going to make home-made pasta and the kids will take home some as their craft. After that it is make your own pizza, bake them, eat cake,which I plan to decorate like a sushi roll given that Emily has a fondness for sushi. Here is my inspiration:



then open presents and send them home. At the beginning of all of this they'll get an apron (which is the sewing I'm doing right now) to wear through the party and take home with them. So far I'm really happy with how the aprons are coming. I'll post a photo, and likely offer them on my Etsy site, when I have one done.

I know, it all sounds a little ambitious but I think it will all be okay. There will be a lot of stuff to do before hand and I really have to get on getting some of that organized - lists and such need to be made. Most of the party will be outside so the mess will be hose-able. I sure hope the weather cooperates or I will be so screwed. We would manage, but the house might not fair so well.

And so, that is what is keeping me occupied at the moment. Yes, I realize I've barely talked about our three weeks at the cottage (which were awesome) and the old sermon. I'll get to it.

Eventually.

The birthday breakdown

We seem to be over the birthday hump, at least for now. Further celebrations will ensue when my dad visits in the next two weeks and when we meet up with John's family at the cottage near the end of the month.

Emily had a great day. We went out for breakfast to Cora's. Hope was a nightmare so we didn't linger. From there we went to Brewer Park. Funnily enough, Nevan (Emily's closest friend) happened to be there with Jim (John's work wife). Emily had a great time - as she always does at the park. After that it was home for naps and serious cleaning and preparation for the party.

When I asked Emily if she would like to have someone over for her birthday, she predictably asked only for Nevan (and Pam, Jim and Celia, of course). She also asked for a Dora birthday cake. The Nevan part was easy enough but I was nervous about the cake. I'd never done a cake more complicated than some chocolate icing (often out of a can, because, yum) and some candles.

Turns out, I did great! I'm very proud of how it turned out and I can now see many more kids cakes in my future. I have to admit, it was pretty fun to do, even if the kitchen was a bit of a bakery disaster zone after it was done.

The kids had a great time. Emily was pretty wired during the whole thing but managed to get to bed on time. Unfortunately we had one of our worst nights ever that night. She was sick - with a cold it seems - and up a lot of the night. She ended up sleeping with me, waking me up every hour or so with her jimmy legs. Add to that Hope still getting up about 4 times a night and I was one seriously tired nasty bitch the next day.

But then. Then! Last night Hope only got up once! Once! It didn't escape us that she finally ate better yesterday with a big supper. I've got to figure out how to get her to eat better during the day so that it can translate to better nights. Right now she only wants food off our fork and from our plates. It makes planning suppers a lot more complicated.

More birthday photos can be found on Flickr. Oh wait. Flickr is demanding a Yahoo sign-in. Okay, now it can't find my original Flickr account. Trying again. Okay, now I'm pissed. I am officially done with Flickr and will find some other way to post photos. Stay tuned.

Update: I've moved over to Photobucket. The jury is still out on what I think but it is fully in on what I think of Flickr right now. Anyway, here is the link for the birthday photos.