family update (finally, a post!)

family skating at Victoria Park

Once again, this post is days in the making. I woke up this morning and declared my two commitments (not goals - but commitments) of the day: vacuuming and blogging (what has life come to!)?. I could have added a bunch of other stuff that did get done but didn't really neeeeed doing, like making sugar cookies (heart shapes), coaching, showering, running... is there more? Likely yes. There's likely more to say / add, but I'll go with the flow and finish what I started!

Steve (in red) and the Palm Springs crew

Steve

We're doing this post oldest to youngest, so this guy gets to go first. He had a pretty big birthday lately, one that I thought merited something that might rival my 30th birthday present (we were living in Winnipeg and he surprised me by flying my three sisters in for a weekend visit) and soooooo... I surprised him with a trip to Palm Springs. This is how I did it (the surprise part): one of the kids gave him a present in a gift bag - a pair of oven mitts, accompanied by my explanation: "You said you didn't want anything, and we do need new oven mitts. Sorry it's a bit lame." His reaction was tres neutral, so I cued part two immediately and Hendrik handed him a wrapped box, saying, "You'll need these next weekend". He unwraps golf balls, and looks confused. "I'm going golfing?" (Yes.) "In the snow?" (No.) "Where?" The kids and I did 1-2-3 and said, "Palm Springs!" and he continued to look confused, but smiley. "By myself?" (No.) "With who?" And then I listed the names of all of his buddies who were flying down. He was completely totally blown-away surprised, and had a week for everything to sink in before flying south with his best friend(s) to stay in an amazing house (double lot, pool, hot tub) for four nights. Needless to say, they had a great time. And now it's back into the swing of things and I think all is well in Dad-land during the day. He's playing hockey and coaching at Mac once or twice a week, and is whipping up some amazing meals and staying busy with the little.

making granola, yum yum!

Me

Life is busy! Work is super busy these days as I felt sort of obliged to run this reading program (Forest of Reading); the kids kept asking if we were doing it and so I thought fine sure yes let's do it, but instead of running the whole gamut I'm just doing three programs (one for FDK-grade 2, another for grades 3 & 4s, and a grade 5 & 6 program). So getting myself organized and everything sorted for that plus planning and catching up on the PD day stuff and getting new books processed and shelved (not to mention all of the regular day-to-day of checking in, shelving, tidying, weeding etc.) is keep me busy. But it's all good, no stress. Somehow I'm managing to play women's league on Monday nights and coach on Wednesday nights (and some weekends), though I'm not sure how long it'll all last. When the kids' activities start amping up there might be less time for mine. Anyways! Until that day comes I'm going to try to keep these two nights a week to myself. I need to find time to exercise (lunch time) and then actually do it (!) and get to bed earlier. Jordan is finally sleeping better, but then I'm so tempted to stay up a bit later and blob on the couch for a bit after the jobs are sort of done. We're starting to think about summer and planning, but I need mental energy and time for that. Not tonight!

Hendrik

Hendrik's most recent most-amazing moment is the completion of his Turbo Toilet 2000 - ! A few weeks ago he said something like, "I finally have a motorized toilet, this is my dream come true!" It was hilarious. It is currently sitting on the shoe rack right by the front door, ready to greet any visitors. AND... it goes forwards and backwards and has a flusher. We were talking about making a mini toilet paper roll, so stay tuned for more. He's still majorly into reading, and his bed is surrounded by piles of books. After he reads for too long / too late every night, he calls me up to lie with him, and we talk in the dark for a while - this is one of the best parts of my day, even though I'm tired and sometimes thinking of the jobs that need finishing downstairs. He's been asking me lots of questions about work, and I do my best to tell him, though sometimes I don't really know what it was exactly that kept me busy all day long. And then sometimes, he'll voluntarily tell me all about his day, and I love it. He's a good skater and a good swimmer - these are the two programs they're in for the winter. Come Spring he'll start baseball, and maaaaaybe soccer, we'll see.

Alana

This one must be going through some growing pains, and the evidence is: 1. She's grown over an inch in the last month; 2. She's been super whiney and hesitant about going to school (okay, in reality there have been days where she's been kicking-screaming-beside herself about going). I'm not there for dropoff, but I hear about it, and some days it starts while I'm still home - like today. She was down in the dumps whiney and sad and clingy until Jordan started showing off a toy purse full of soothers, and it made everyone laugh. And then I started talking about how everyone was going to school and how I would really really love it if she could make some art for me to hang up at my desk at work. And just like that she was her regular happy self for the remainder of the morning (phew). Her skating skills are also improving, and she's doing well in swimming too. And while she likes books, I wouldn't say she's as hooked as Hendrik is; she loves doing puzzles and pretend play - she'll talk to herself and play with her little lego people and sing to them. And she is such a help with Jordan - she loves him! Sure sometimes she's a little pushy / too hands on with him, but she really does love being a big sister. 

Jordan

Jordan is obsessed with his soothers. Even when we think we've found them all and put them up high somewhere (just for naps and nighttime - that's what we try for), he'll slip away and then show up with another one. Today he brought the purse full of soothers to school, and proudly showed them to Hendrik and Alana's friends (!!!). Adorable. He's been pretty mommy-mommy cling-cling, but let Steve take him out of his crib yesterday morning without a fuss, so maybe that's starting to change a little now that I'm back to work and Steve is back from his trip. He is a super picky eater, but loves cheese, bread, yogurt (this is probably his favouritee), pancakes, fruit and rice krispies. He also loves the water, be it bathwater, poolwater, mudpuddles or ice and snow. He has music class on Monday mornings, and gets to the pool or a playgroup with Dad a few times a week... and the nap! The afternoon nap is key - we make sure we're always home for his big afternoon sleep.

I hope you enjoyed the update!

tea party yesterday mornin

alana drew this for me - a garden "with a bottle cloud"  :)