of books and babes

Kim Ji Hyuk

Isn't this picture just perfect? Books, a comfy chair, an open window and an afghan - this might be me one day, if spring ever finds her way to town. (And if I ever purchase an oversized (it'd have to be extra-oversized) blue chair.)

The kids are home and life is back to its beautiful, chaotic normal self - sleepless nights, rushed mornings, and piles of homework. It felt so good to wrap my arms around these two little beans - there they sit so still and calm with each other - entranced by The Octonauts. They are still obsessed: the majority of play time around here is Octonauts-themed, and Alana's latest thing is pretending to heal wounded sea creatures (me or Steve) just like Peso. She'll ask if something is hurt (yes) and then whip her arms around in an I'm-bandaging-your-arm motion (you know what I mean, right?) and then say, "There. Good as new!" - it's adorable, and I should do my best to get it on film. I'm fading - bed time needs to happen asap... more details more info more updates next time (do I always say this?) - only a few more weeks and the semester is over, so I should have more time then. Right? Not so sure...

five days of flying sola

This house is so lonely and quiet without children in it! It's been kind of amazing being here by myself, mostly for the sleep - I've had solid sleeps (knock on wood) every night with no wake-ups, no crying kids. Our children - really I should just be talking about Alana - so, Alana used to be a good sleeper (maybe even a great sleeper) but she sure isn't winning any awards these days - even though apparently, she's been sleeping soundly in B-ville all week. So the sleep has been wonderful and making decisions based entirely (!!) on what I want to do has also been fabulous. Ending soon! But I'm happy... I miss my people! I'll be waiting on the steps for them when they pull in tomorrow afternoon.

So what else has gone down this week? We've had all of the wiring in the house replaced already, and what awesome timing having the kids gone while walls are ripped open with tools (and wires) left here and there and busy workers coming and going. I've had a few social nights out - for a volleyball banquet tonight and for beers with classmates yesterday - and have made some serious progress on the tsunami of assignments due this week and next. Still, despite hopes that I could work work work and get it all done - there's more! There's always more. But that's okay, I'll just keep working away. With just 4 weeks left of classes (I think - eep!) it's crunch time... so I have to keep working away. But for now - I have a good night's sleep I need to go and get before my little bunnies come home!

octonauts family!!

I'm just back from my second run of the year, and it feels so so good to get outside and exercise! The snow is melting and spring is trying to edge her way into our lives - thank goodness! Unlike many others I know, I didn't find winter that awful - it was long but not that cold; there was (and still is) quite a bit of snow, but we were never in the grips of -20s weather... or at least not for very long. Okay enough about the weather - what I should be talking about is the big news of the day - of the year! Of our right-now lives: we own our house! Everything closed today, and we didn't even have to move. Electricians are already at work rewiring this almost 100-year old home, and we'll have a good deal of work to do in the back yard once the snow melts - weeds rule back there, and I'm sure it'll be one messy mud pit unless we do something about it. (P.S. Aren't the Octonauts masks Marg made ah-mazing? The kids are IN LOVE with this show, and I have to admit, I'm a big fan too. If we start now, we could all have Octonauts costumes for Halloween!!)

More big news: I'm home alone - all week. On one hand I'm excited - I'll get work done, I might actually get some sleep at night, and I can eat when I want and what I want, and do what I want whenever I want. On the other hand, man oh man am I ever going to miss my family, little ones and big one. They've taken off to Bowmanville for March break, while school and an onslaught of assignments is keeping me here. Hopefully I'll be able to put the pedal to the metal and get things DONE!

No other news really, other than... hm. We did a clinic in Hamilton yesterday with LP (and Tim Cooper) and Jump Volleyball and had an awesome time, and... let's see - I'm playing in a basketball tournament in a few weeks and Steve is going to a Raptors game in a few weeks and I only have 6 weeks left of school. I'm know there's more to write about but I'm going to eat dinner and get some work done. Until next time!

10 days ago it was snow-stegosauras weather... soon, spring!

boy + graph

This past week (and next week and the one after that) has been (and will be) packed with school work and commitments. A few weeks ago I made a comment to a friend at school that life couldn't be any more full - and she warned me not to tempt fate. Has it become more full? Maybe. But a full and busy (and rewarding) life is better than one that is slow and empty... right? That being said, I sure am going to enjoy sitting on the beach in Greece in August with nary a to-do list or school assignment in sight. That's right people - Steve booked our flights to Greece! We're going to a wedding there (Nik and Constantina), and I'm looking forward to thinking about it and getting excited about it once this riptide of schoolwork subsides.

An assignment that is requiring a good deal of my time these days is a group presentation on Data Visualization (for a research and statistics course), so imagine my surprise when yesterday, Hendrik started making graphs. Really. He came into the kitchen after dinner and asked Steve, "Daddy, are you happy?" Steve said yes. He left the room for a few minutes, and then came back. "Mommy, are you happy?" I said yes. He left the room again, and Steve and I peeked around the corner to see what he was up to. We asked, and he answered: "I'm making graphs." What a guy. Here are a few pictures of his graph, and a description of how you make a graph. (If only I could include this in my presentation!)

In other news, we are in the midst of purchasing the house and there have been so many things to take care of - I've been calling electricians and insurance companies in between classes and group meetings, and meeting with mortgage brokers in between dinner time and kiddo bath time. Steve has been making most of the dinners and has made a few "restaurant" meals (deluxe) - recipes coming soon. As always, I have more to write about but it's time to run - schoolwork calls!

a weekend in the city

the big city

February was the paltriest post month EVER! I'll start things off right in March by posting on its very first day, and hopefully the rest of the month will follow with better posting habits. So...

We're coming off the heels of an amazing weekend in Toronto, and it was just the little vacay that we needed. We'd been tossing around the idea of going on vacation somewhere, but with different spring breaks for the students (mine was last week - not much "spring" happening around here) and expensiveness all around, we'd kind of given up on the idea of a warm weather getaway (okay we hadn't - we were still dreaming). Then a small coaching thing came up this weekend in Toronto and our staycation plans were born; Steve trolled the net, found us a killer deal at an amazing hotel and booked - 'twas a go! The kids were super excited, and it turned out to be a great two days - great because we saw friends, Grandma and Grandpa B came in, I caught up with some volleyball friends and coaches I hadn't seen in a long time, we ate good food (no prep or cleanup required - and the kids ate for free all weekend), and we stayed in a  swank and upscale place (loved it). While I was in the gym (and then out for lunch) on Saturday, Steve and the kids met up with Grandma and Grandpa B and the whole crew of them visited the new (-ish) aquarium, lunched, and took a dip in the pool at the hotel. Due to afternoon naps, the kids didn't go to bed as early as we'd hoped they would, but nevertheless we were all in bed and almost sleeping by 9:30 (maybe 10:00). Somehow we managed to sleep in until 8:00 this morning (ah-mazing), and packed up and visited friends (the Jansons) before heading back home to reality. Laundry and school stuff ruled the latter half of the day here, and a busy week looms; with only 6-ish weeks left of school for me, the pickle of work (thanks autocorrect: pile) grows and grows and grows. On that note, I'll get back to it - laundry and schoolwork...

running in the halls (semi-quietly) brought me back to beijing - it was a go-to activity there!

sitting in style