I heartily recommend Apples & Onions

Wow! I cannot believe it has been since May since I last blogged. It has been an incredible summer. I so very much wish I had blogged about it. We had some wonderful family time and we actually got out camping twice too. The kids very much seemed to enjoy the summer. What sensational weather we had too!

We have slowly but surely renovated our family room over the summer too. I am so excited about it and it is really almost finished up. I am putting the last touches on it. Then I will have an album to post of pics!

With the family room reno, has come a new policy to eat together at the island in our kitchen every night. I hate to admit that we ate on the couch whilst watching tv before but the cat is out of the bag so I will suck it up and wear that reveal. We have been so enjoying our meals together in our new room. (It is open concept family room / kitchen combo but we really only reno'd the family room part). \

A couple of nights ago, I asked my husband to tell us the best thing about his day and the worst thing (worst first of course to end with something positive) and our eldest, piped up and said that is "Apples & Onions!" We have since done it around the island every night and what amazing conversations we have. It begins lovely discussions and marvellous sharing of our lives apart from each other, giving detailed glimpses into our days away from home. We have had lots of laughs in just a couple days and then we also often remember the apples & onions from day to day and inquire about specific things. I heartily recommend this and I sincerely hope we continue it! It has really enriched our lives & time together. :)

Owning it & Embracing it

Last night, I headed up to bed before my hubby and went to wash my face and saw that I needed, yet again, to tweeze unwanted hairs from my visage dammit! This whole growing of more body hair as one ages is just another sucky element to getting older right? So then I think I should use the make up mirror and I sit down with tweezers in hand and turn it on and it magnifies my face so much I gasp. LOL. Hubby bought me that mirror when I was 19 or 20 (maybe 21), it was never difficult to look at oneself then but fast forward a couple decades and then have a peek. So after thinking yuck for a moment or two, then I really look at myself. There are some marks on my face and some fine lines too... and then I had an epiphany. It is my face and every single mark and line tell a story and speak to who I am. I embrace each and every one. I bet I experienced the acquisition of each one to its fullest. I also live life with 150% of emotion & passion so I am sure I did. My face and my body make me who I am. I like who I am. While I am working hard to change my body (and succeeding in baby steps but steps nonetheless), I am me and I like me. I did not always like me so this is a big deal. Being in your 40's is not so bad is it? It is a time when you really start to get yourself and life in general. An ah-ha moment for me. :) Have a super long weekend all!

Some Daycare Moments: A Dinosaur and a Tough Frog & Some Sticker Stories

On the day of the Rockathon, XK, was with me at close. I asked him if he wanted to rock for the last couple minutes and he was content with what he was doing and said "Nope." He had a large dinosaur puppet and a blue / black toy frog but did not have his hand in the puppet. So we were on the deck, and I was rocking finishing out the event's required rocking and he and I were talking. So tell me how your story starts I asked. He responded "This dinosaur has been around a long time. So have the frogs. There are way more frogs then the dinosaurs. This dinosaur likes to eat the frogs. This frog is the last one. He is chewing him," and he shows me by sticking the frog in the mouth and using his hands to make the teeth chomp and chomp. So I say "the last one, eh?" And he says "yup, he takes way more chewing then the others."

I got the stickers off the daycare vehicle. I loved designing them when I was told I had to have them. I never wanted them but I got them and loved designing them. So... after 3 1/2 years, I got them off. I kept one though. A Bubble. I have named it "JennyBubble" :) So many of the kids have a lot to say about the stickers being gone. Yesterday, SD, told his teachers that it rained so hard (which it seriously did - torrentially in the afternoon while we were at daycare) that it washed the stickers off my car. Later he came down and had to ask me where they went and why. I thought and responded with "Well, you know how sometimes we give you a sticker and you put it on your hand or your arm," and he nodded. "Sometimes it gets itchy and you take it off," and he nodded. "Well that is what happened." I said. "They got itchy." And he seemed okay with that answer.

CB was most displeased with the stickers being gone. Sad and unimpressed really. He told his mom that "Hedder's car is not colorful anymore." last night as they left the daycare. This morning on the way to daycare, he said to her. "I thought about some more." His mom had no idea what he was talking about and asked him what he meant. "Hedder's car, Mom. I am going to paint it for her." LOL :)

All of the kids are saying my car is naked now, or that it is "nakey" and a couple said it needs a sweater.

Insanity Reigns

Random out of the blue conversation which began by our child 7 yr old who has no disorder to our knowledge "Mom, I don't think I have ADHD, I just think" then 10 yr old interrupts laughing uproariously, saying "now you are going to say you have mental problems." Mother, (me), throws hands in air and busts up laughing. Cat (5 months runs around us, Dog (14 months) running to. Chaos, Mayhem = home!!!! Mother "I love you guys!" Father rolls eyes and says ... "


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A great Friday

How your day goes is really all a matter of perspective eh??? I had had a horrible sleep & had to take numerous pain meds to fight a hell of a headache. Came to work to a job I love & coworkers I love working with and of course my day got infinitely better. Not terribly productive what with doorbells & phone calls but being surrounded by ppl you enjoy working & all committed to a common goal fuels one's day.

I went and gave blood and I love for many reasons. While there, no person (child or adult), no creature, no summons comes for me, no doorbells or phones = bliss. I take my iPod & feel thoroughly content. I am giving the gift of life while having some me time. How divine! Why do I have to wait so many weeks for this to take place again? (that is rhetorical eh)

So tonight is a sleepover at work, and I know I say it a lot but I just LOVE the people I work with. A bunch volunteered & once the kids were asleep we didn't even watch one movie.... We just talked & laughed & enjoyed each other's company until 2 a.m. :)

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Wishing my iPod had a microphone

Laying in bed.... Cannot possibly sleep.... Husband , whom I love, don't get me wrong, is snoring off the richter scale. Arggggggggh!


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Advice

Ok..... Advice for all: cocacola & rainbow chocolate chip cookies for breakfast & lunch is a very bad choice


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Torn

When I am with my kids, I can often be fully present but sometimes, I want to be at work. When I am at work, I can often be fully present but sometimes, I want to be with my kids.


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For Ellen, yes, that Ellen, seriously

So I love the show Ellen. I DVR it every day. :) She never, and I mean never fails to bring several smiles to my face as well as causes me to laugh out loud. I depend on her, I count on her and I am happy to rely on her. This week I realized I had to talk to her... so here is the video I made for her.

Wow! cannot begin to tell you how nervous I was making that video. And now I will wonder... will she ever see it.... I wonder how many messages she gets a day. Great now I will wonder that too.

What is up lately...

We now have all 4 Christmas trees done and the majority of the Christmas boxes up in the storage loft. So very very close to being completely de-Christmassed. LOL

The kitten and puppy (can I call her that since she is not yet 1 yr old?) are doing fairly well together. They wrestle quite energetically. I mean really, with body slams and everything. She is quite tiny compared to our massive (LOL) dog. Hey! our dog is massive compared to kitty!

Feels very very weird to not be looking forward to going to Florida in March. We are not taking any trips this year and it feels so strange. I think I am happy / excited to not have to dig out suitcases. But when my BFF texted me today the dates she will be in Florida, I must say I had some momentary regrets.

Hoping my hubby called Judy today! :)

New Beginnings

how do you feel about the New Year each year? do you find yourself setting tons of goals? I find my mind swims quite a bit there in January each year. I also feel I get a Holiday Hangover. Sort of that icky feeling from having some candy, large meals and burning the candle on both ends.

In the fall, in early October, I had some people come in and help me purge and organize our home. We really made some great changes and a lot of stuff left our house. (you would not know it to visit LOL) and now with Christmas over, we have stuff again... Not the same amount but some of the gifts we got sort of replaced some stuff that we had purged. I purged a Santa cookie jar and lo and behold we got one. I purged a chocolate fondue set and lo and behold.... I gave me such a feeling of release and lightness to have less stuff to take care of and organize and it is amazing how heavy you can feel having to now find a place for it all over again.

at work, we started a healthy lifestyle / weight loss challenge. I signed up for it. I have not begun to participate as of yet. I cannot say quite why. I am in sort of a funk I guess. I need to give myself a talking to ??? or maybe kick myself in the butt?

I always loved blogging so I hope to get back into that too.

Several people have told me you cannot wish people a Happy New Year after a certain date. But I defy them and say Happy 2010 to all of you!