Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Separate Beds

Will and I slept in separate beds last night.

Is our marriage on the rocks you wonder?

Are we prematurely settling into a seniors' style arrangement?

Actually it's because the guy at my husband's work, with a newborn at home, is having better sleeps at night then he is.

It's our two year old that's causing the commotion. 

He seems most comfortable spread eagle between the two of us, giving regular yelps and groans, that startle us into semi-consciousness.  All the while giving us knees and kicks to the back, while he dreams.

There is also my personal favourite: as he strokes my hair for comfort, running his fingers through my long locks, he encounters a tangle and pulls, which hurts like the dickens and jolts me awake!

I am contemplating a drastic hair cut.

The trick with our precious boy is this: if I muster the energy to pick him up and carry him next door to his own bed one of two things happen:

1-   His eyes pop open, he starts yelping "Mom's bed!" and wakes up our eight year old.

or

2-  He comes trotting back to our bed a short time later (usually just after I've drifted off again).


Basically, he just wears us down in the middle of the night.  It becomes a contest of determination and energy, who has the greater willingness to sacrifice sleep for the goal?  The parents or the two year old?

I think most parents have been in a similar situation with one or more of their children at some point.

What's your opinion? 


A.)  Be more consistent in your efforts.  Keep working on getting him sleeping through the night in his own bed.  (Increase sugar and or caffiene intake to achieve energy levels, if needed)


B.)  He'll grow out of it in five years or so.  Enjoy the family bed and deal with sleep interruptions.


C.)  Embrace the separate beds.  Let your husband get a good night's sleep and you sleep with the toddler and determine plan of action (or non action).

D.)  Call in super nanny and plead for help.


The accused:




Sunday, June 23, 2013

It Was Killer




 The rain didn't stop us.  

Armed with jackets and umbrellas, we saw dolphins (now Olive's favourite),  killer whales (now Seth's favourite) and rode many a ride (now Ezra's favourite).

(Will you judge me harshly if I confess that this was the above mentioned children's first time on a roller coaster?)

My favourite part of doing marineland in the rain? NO LINES! NO CROWDS! That's the way, my dearies!

(Disclaimer: my friend and fellow dolphin viewer was chilled and soaked and ended up getting a crazy illness ....link it if you must)




Awesome Points I Collected

1. 10 points: We stayed allllll day.

2. 25 points: Ezra was chosen as a volunteer during the show (I helped draw attention to his volunteer-ish abilities by pointing and cheering during the choosing escapades)

3. 100 points: I lost my mind on the way out and bought each of the kids an overpriced, stuffed marine animal in the gift shop (I usually say no). They were thrilled.

4. ...and 39 bonus points for not falling asleep whilst driving home.

I will let you add it up and come to your own conclusions.

(Katie's whisper heard behind your right ear... "I roooooock")

Thursday, June 20, 2013

A View from Here on a Random Day in June

 
Here are a few pictures of the final student concert.  I only took a few because the camera is way too loud for the occasion....


 

Here is the couch with slip-covers on the bottom and back cushions.  I am leaving the sides for now - maybe in the fall I will attempt it, but I don't mind it with two tones for now. 

 
Abbie learned to ride a two wheeler!!  She just decided to take the training wheels off and with a tiny bit of help from David and I, she was riding all by herself within a day or two.


Abbie with a couple of her friends.
 


 Isaac & Maddie dressed up for twin day at school (they also added identical moustaches when they were at school).  I couldn't get over how similar they look!  Our principal was surprised they weren't at least cousins.....although who knows... They won first place!


 
Abbie and Grace dressed up for twin day too.  I was pretty impressed with Grace for being willing to dress up with her little sister.  They looked so good!
 




 
Kristina & Steven's new baby:  Juniper
 
 
Emma at her Highland Dance Recital:
 




 
(notice how she tied her plaid around her head!!!  she wasn't really supposed to....) 
 
 
Dad on Father's Day 2013




 
A few shots of David from his grade 8 slide show photoshoot.  I can hardly believe that he's going to be in highschool in the fall. 
 

 

Sunday, June 2, 2013

I Am A Salmon




Me: Guess what my next post is called?

M:  What?

Me: I am a salmon.

M:   I like that... Is it because you're swimming upstream?

Me: No.

M: Because you're pink?

Me: No.

M:  Because you're really tasty when you're all buttered up?

Me: Wow.



I AM A SALMON

Many salmon are anadromous — meaning they live in the saltwater of the ocean but return to freshwater when it's time to invite the next generation onto the scene. Scientists don't really know how salmon find their way back to the exact stream in which they were born (instinct, smell, inner GPS?), but they do.



A young salmon will stay in the river where it was born for the first 1-3 years of its life. It then heads for the great, wide ocean where it matures. Amazingly, this salmon will then migrate back to it's original home sweet home to spawn. The journey to get there can be hundreds of miles upstream against rapids and currents, and filled with big, bad, hungry bears.

Why, salmon?  What's the big deal?

As I recall, I was ready to move away from home when I was 14. I managed to create a "choose your own adventure" high school experience and did a decent amount of traveling, working, studying and creating. I learned and matured a lot.
Since marrying and having children, I find it interesting that I've never felt we've found our long-term home. We've covered 4 provinces and 10 years- following education and job opportunities. We put down little baby roots and plugged into the community, made lasting friendships and connected with neighbors. But I planted trees and raspberry bushes knowing someone else would be benefiting from the shade and harvest.

And that's okay.

Now there are some options opening to us and we've been trying to figure out what we're looking for in our permanent home. Here's where the salmon kicks in. Since becoming a mother, something in me has been drawn to my native habitat. My childhood experience is the standard by which I judge. I want all the good things from my childhood to be part of/valued by my children. Is this a common feeling? Is it a Darwinian thing? The salmon being alive, being adult, means something went well. Am I hoping to give my children a "chance of survival" based on the patterns that fostered my survival?


Family, water, beauty, time, quiet, freedom, work, nature, the smell of a cedar hedge, a walk to the post office, knowing everyone in the neighbourhood by name. Most of this I ached to get away from in my teens. I wanted to DO something! All this quiet, all this simplicity of living- did people know what was happening in the world?!

After high school, I lived and taught in Cuba. This time in my life showed me that the way we change the world is by changing ourselves and raising healthy (in every sense of the word) children. The Cubans I loved were living that same simple life- feeding, cleaning, teaching, creating a home, talking about ideas, dancing, laughing, working, reading, growing. That first lesson has been reconfirmed to me over and over. Here is our power. A healthy home, community, world, whatever... is made up of healthy individuals. Want peace in your home? Community? Be peaceful. (It's not as easy as it sounds!)

So... now the salmon in me is wanting to go back to my little stream and surround my little fishies with all the goodness I can find. And anadromous or not, I can smell cedar and it's pulling at my heart.