late-ish cookie post

I'm baking cookies at 10:00 at night - weird. And I'm just home from my first hot yoga (Moksha) class in hmm... maybe five years? And it was so-so - not something I'd pay $15 for, which I think is the going rate from drop-in yoga - crazy. (I had a free class coupon that expires in two days, so I figured I'd better use it! It's been on my board since September.) I'm starting a must-get-in-shape week in preparation for this weekend's basketball tournament, in which our team will play four games in less than 24 hours - yowsa kapowsa! I ran yesterday, yoga today, run tomorrow, hoops with Steve on Wednesday, and rest Thursday; this is my big exercise plan - so peak physical shape (pah!) happens on Friday at 4:00pm.

Hendrik went to his first from-school friend's birthday party on Sunday and had a blast. The group got together at a huge play gym (Adventures on Wonderland), and the kids ran wild in a giant climb-on structure that was a mini version of the colossus that we visited a few times in Beijing. I stayed for a bit, left to go for a run in ridiculously chilly temps, went grocery shopping and arrived in time to peer in on the partygoers eating cake and watching the birthday boy open presents. Hendrik and Hudson were the last two standing, and after dinner and bath the kid was zonked in bed for a solid night's sleep.

Looking back on this blog from April 27, 2013 I'm reminded of the fact that Alana also slept through the night last night - who knows, maybe after a full day of gymnastics (her first on-her-own class) and several hours of outdoor sand-table play, she'll do it again tonight. We'd signed her up for a parent and tot class - which was slotted for kids up to 3 years old; but with a pretty poor coach to athlete ratio, they suggested a move to the older class and it was so much better. I wasn't so sure that she'd run off on her own without a worry trailing behind, but she did - she waved at me from the mat every now and then and followed along with the rest of the kids (she must have been one of the youngest, but was also definitely one of the tallest). We sure were spoiled by the gymnastics club in Gatineau - where there was a ton of natural light and the equipment and facilities were brand new; FCG doesn't measure up in terms of space or equipment (not many places would!), but Alana had a great time - I wish I'd taken some pics.

tea party behind the couch

Alright, I should get going - and deal with these cookies... Until next time!

mash-up

The semester's classes finished Friday, and since then (since taking my kids to the last Children's Materials Birth-7 years class - to watch short picture book films - including Doctor De Soto, Scaredy Squirrel, A Boy, a Dog, a Frog and more) I have been completely engrossed in The Goldfinch. I have 20-ish pages left to go, and I am so amazed at this work - how on earth did she write this? How long did it take? It is so well written, thought out - the characters are amazing... details amazing; if you haven't read it and you're in for a case of book elbow (at 760 pages, it weighs several pounds), join the wait list at your local library - or look for it at the uni! The wait list at LPL was 100+ a few months ago, but immediately available at school. Anyways, it's been on my to-read list for a while, and now that it's out of the way (almost), I can step out of New York City and back into my life of mom and student. School starts again today - or tomorrow; I should have started work on my next course this morning, but took Alana to gymnastics, went grocery shopping, and, after wearing running clothes for three days FINALLY went for a run. Hurrah - and tonight, I'll finish this book.

pre-breakfast, back-porch saturday

Hendrik received his first ever from-school birthday party invitation, and he was all over it - so focused on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles card and pleased as punch (though whether it was the envelope with his name on it that did it - or the fact that he was invited to a party, not sure!) - he held on to it for a good hour after we were home from school.

Weather has been better, so we've been outside digging in the backyard, washing windows at Liz's and biking and running up and down the sidewalk in front of the house. A few days ago Steve discovered that there were a good 25+ concrete slabs buried throughout one side of the backyard, and it sure has been a job digging them out. The house was up for sale last summer, and when we moved in it was done up nicely - wood chips covering areas that must've been mud and dirt for years; grass won't grow through concrete! So we've been digging and finding bricks (maybe 20) and concrete slabs and lots and lots of worms, which of course has been super fun for the kids.

Que mas? What can I say? My sisters (K & C) are coming to visit in June, I have the Ontario Master's Bball Championships in two weeks in Toronto (yay!), and apparently our Christmas in Vancouver visit will correspond with my best friend flying home from Australia. Will my parent's house always be "home"? Or is it Vancouver that does it? We're settled in here, but until we know we're staying (or not) for good, that feeling won't be there in that same solid and definite way. Anyways, since I'm likely to be spending the night on Alana's floor (again), I should go and get these last pages of The Goldfinch done and read. Until next time!

gardening, washing windows, art-from-school, rolling breadsticks (whilst making vegimal noises) and le backyard

spring!!!

Spring is here! I can almost guarantee that the people who were in shorts and tank tops yesterday were in winter coats a few weeks ago - myself included! Okay, I didn't go so far as to wear a tank top, but I did go on a nice long bike ride (the first of many I hope) with a friend and it was warm and sunny and I wore shorts. I've been on the hunt for my own bike, and, not wanting to totally break the bank, I've been scouring kijiji for just the right thing. Just the right thing? Unfortunately, I don't know  what just the right thing looks like - mostly because I've been spoiled riding Steve's XL hybrid bicycle. Just like the pizza and donuts in Japan, the pasta in Italy and the pastries in Greece, I've been spoiled, and no Canadian Tire special is going to compare to the wheels I've beens stealing. Anyways! I need a bike to get to school here soon, so I'm either going to buy an el cheapo just to get to and fro, or (this is what I really should do) go into a bike shop to see what size of frame might best be suited for my tallish frame... and go from there.

how awesome is this water table? at THE museum in waterloo

The semester is winding down, and it's highly unlikely that I'll ever take four courses again - especially because the upcoming electives won't be as easy as some of the required core courses I now have knocked off the list (thank goodness). This summer I'm doing a guided research project to present at the Conversation of Women in Sport in Laval in June, so I've got to get going on things here pretty quickly - and that's it! Just one course. That way I can coach, travel and coach (Toronto, Vancouver), and travel (Greece!!) - without missing nary a class. Pretty soon here we're going to do a serious number on our half-mud half-weeds backyard - dig up the weeds and sod and seed and then we can set up the new trampoline. Ee! Did I say that (/write that) out loud? I did. We bought the kids a small 8" trampoline and they are going to LOVE IT. I loved having a trampoline when we were little, and I can just hear my mom saying "Heather, you'd be out there for hours." - because I was. Our yard is a little little for a full size jumper, but with some rules and moving around we can make this smaller t-line (our code word for it - the kids still don't know about it) work for us, the yard, the neighbours and the kids.

Signing off - Alana will probably be waking up soon!

more waterloo museum fun

happy easter!

Instead of doing homework last night, I sat around with my favourite guy and ate chocolate, drank wine and hid Easter eggs and jelly bean bags around the house. After a sub-par sleep (the usual), I woke up on Alana's floor with news of nibbled carrot nubs downstairs - the EASTER bunny had been here! I trailed after the kids with eyes half closed, but the excitement was just too infectious to keep them that way; coffee + chocolate + happy kids brought me back to life. So here we are 12 hours later and the sugar is still coursing through their veins - they're playing tennis downstairs, whatever that means! And the snow that was all around us this morning is gone (thankfully), along with 1/3 of the Easter basket haul (might explain the late-night tennis). We had a great day of food, swimming (the YMCA was open - !), exercise (me), visits (with neighbours) and treats; the only thing missing was family. And warm weather. (All in good time, right?)

I'm going to try to use the camera a bit more (instead of the phone) for pics, so I'll actually have to keep track of it - and take it with me. It didn't get left behind on a recent trip to a sugar shack - where, on one of the first moderately balmy days (I think it got up to 5), the kids were LOVING being outside; the pancakes and jugs of syrup were a distant second to the swings and tree houses and wood chip piles found out back. Combined with Friday morning's trip to the local park that makes TWO park visits in the past week, and we are all getting excited about spring (and summer). 

Quick updates:

since i couldn't find a recent one, i picked an oldie. age = ??

Me

I stayed up way too late last night finishing Alexander McCall Smith's The Forever Girl - an impulse pick-up on a library run (for kid's books). It was good, as most of his books that I've read are (I couldn't get into the Professor von whatever series, but everything else I've read has been fabulous). School is winding down and only a few assignments loom before the summer semester starts; I'll be doing one self-directed study and will hopefully have it wrapped up by the end of June, leaving me with a few months of coaching, cottage and... Greece! Can't wait. Semi-finals and finals of the women's vb league happens tomorrow night, as does Easter dinner (not sure what we're eating) followed by raspberry cake (yum).

Steve

A new project is on the go - a table, for somewhere. He's signed himself up for a spring hockey league, is contemplating playing in Nationals in Calgary, and is staying busy with the kids. I'm sure there's more, but I'd have to ask him and he's currently building lego houses with Alana (8:44pm), who is showing no signs of slowing down. 

music

Hendrik

Hendrik wrote his first piece of music tonight, titled Where is the penguins (I think); see picture. He's reading up a storm (we gave the kids an Octonauts book and they LOVE it), and - yes, Octonauts; they play or watch or read or colour Octonauts things for most of the day. Today swimming was a huge hit, jelly beans and Cadbury mini eggs (he called them Robin's eggs) were also big, and hockey and lego rounded out the activities du jour. Favourite foods... hm: toast with butter for breakfast (or waffles), PB&J for lunch, pasta for dinner (tonight he ate a huge burg, all of it) or beef and rice. He's all day at school except for Wednesday, and seems to like it - and he's signed up for baseball (starting next month) and swimming lessons, and that's it!

Alana

This girl could really work on her sleeping habits - as you've heard. She had her first gymnastics class last Monday and loved it! She was definitely shy with the other kids and adults but was all over the trampolines and mats and climbing equipment; it was her first organized class - swimming (parent and tot) starts at the end of the month (at the Y) - but not the last. Octonauts is also a big part of her life, as is anything that Hendrik does. Mostly she's nice to him (he's much nicer with her these days), but she definitely presses his buttons - and knows she's doing so (scallywag). She loves grapes, cheese, yogurt and crackers; icing and chocolate round out her favourite food groups. 

I'm sure I'm forgetting important things - like the fact that I'm starting to really love the Octonauts - but this is a sizeable post for this time of the day and with kids running wild. Hoping everyone had a fabulous Easter weekend!

one of my favourite all time books, for so many reasons. 

the worst!

I am becoming the worst! blogger! I have a few reasons for becoming the worst! blogger! but they are the same reasons that I don't get other things (like exercise or reading) done either, and they are family and school. I sometimes (today) wonder how a stay-at-home parent can be anything other than a parent; time is so dominated by children and family duties, and time away is dominated by eating or showering (sometimes) or one of many things that one could do (grocery shopping, laundry, oh... homework). I really shouldn't be saying this, because last weekend I was a mom and a basketball player - ! I played in a tournament with a great group of women, all of whom I met for the first time an hour before game #1, and it was great. It'd been 13 years or so (I figure) since I'd last played in a real game with refs and everything, but it came back to me like riding a bike, hurray! We won two of our three games to finish third and even did something social that evening, despite a few horrific nights of "sleep" around here. Steve and the kids joined to cheer us on on Saturday, and cheer us on they did; one of the women on the other team said, "who's that kid and what's he saying?" I got to lay claim and clarify that he was saying "GO Auckland ballas!" - it was great. Auckland Ballers because this is the team (I think) that is heading to the World Master's Games in Auckland NZ in 2017 - wouldn't it be great if I could join? Sounds super fun. Anyways, one thing at a time and that next thing right now is posting this blog, hanging up the laundry and going to bed. This "other" time - doing homework and very briefly quickly blogging - is too late (it's 12:38). I have some things to say about starting April off right (with a sugar shack visit and warmer climes) but I'll save it for next time... whenever that is!