This Moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Mine!

My dear, sweet daughter has reached the dual personality stage of toddlerhood - she's been there for a while, but I've been in denial. Sweet as pie but can turn into the little monster at any given time. Last night after going to her own bed for the first quarter of the night she decided that wasn't what she had in mind, got up and headed to our bed. (And by headed to our bed, I mean started screaming "No!" repeatedly and needed a cuddle downstairs from her dad before allowing me to take her into our bed and cuddle her.)
My husband deciding the better sleep to be had would be in her bed own his own went to her bed for the night. This morning our daughter woke up, ran into her room to find some Elmo clothing. She stopped when she saw her dad and said, "Hey! Mine bed!". My husband spoke up and said, "Well, you were in my bed, where's Daddy supposed to sleep?" "No! Mine bed!"...and the conversation continued from there with all the logic involved toddlerhood.

TODDLER’S RULES
1- If I want it, it's mine
2- If it's in my hand, it's mine
3- If I can take it away from you, it's mine
4- If I had it a little while ago, it's mine
5- If it's mine, it must never appear to be yours in any way
6- If we are building something together,all the pieces are mine
7- If it just looks like mine, it's mine
8- If I think it's mine, it's mine
9- If I give it to you and change my mind later, it's mine
10- Once it's mine it will never belong to anyone else, no matter what

Snowman Cupcakes

Have I mentioned yet my new found love of Pinterest? Of course, if you are crafty you probably already know about it and are more than slightly hooked on it. Well, my daughter turns 2 tomorrow. We aren't having her party until next weekend, but I couldn't let the day pass without something special. I decided to make cupcakes for her to take to daycare and share with the kids there. I searched 'cupcakes' on Pinterest and my goodness there are some amazing cupcakes out there! Wow! I needed something fairly simple though and I saw these. Aren't they cute? My daughter loves snowmen so this is perfect. The eyes and mouth are upside down chocolate chips and the nose are cut up pieces of fruit gummies - so simple.

This Moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Training Girls

I've heard that girls are easier to potty train than boys. Little Miss O will be 2 next week. The boys trained around their 3rd birthday so I haven't really given training her much thought - I figured I would try it maybe this summer if she was ready, or next Christmas. Apparently she has her own schedule in mind. Yesterday, she ran to the washroom shouting, "I pee toilet". And when I got there, there she was diaper off standing in front of the toilet peeing just like her brothers do. Sigh - right idea, just doesn't work for her. Guess it's time to pull out the potty!

City Life vs. Country Life - the people you know

When my husband first came out for his interview and tour of our future home last spring, he laughed as he said, "It'll be different, that's for sure". He then proceeded to tell me of his tour of the area during which one of his guides said, "Oh there's Mary, yep, she goes to work this time of day." And we laughed at the small-town-ness of such a statement. Well, last week we were driving home and Jonathan said, "Oh look, David's home, watching TV" - and I looked at him and laughed and said, "You are turning into one of them" I don't think we're in Toronto anymore :)

Things to Remember

Sometimes my kids say or do something that I want to remember and I wish I wrote these down more often: O shouting up the stairs to her brothers while Dad is sleeping, "Boys no noisy!" O giving Elmo a goodnight kiss in her storybook at bedtime. The boys giggling their heads off calling each other 'chicken bum' - I know, not the nicest memory, but funny. The boys dressing in all black each calling themselves, 'the man in black' because they love Johnny Cash. E praying for me when I was sick. J visiting kindergarten and being so excited and proud. J randomly one morning, "Do you know what's even better than whipped cream? Chocolate cake with whipped cream on it!" E sneaking in a late night read (just like his mom!).

Learning to relax

Part of the lesson of being sick this vacation has taught me to re-learn the art of resting. There was so much I wanted to do. And I had been doing and being busy right up to the point where I just simply didn't have any energy left. Seeing as my body wouldn't let me do anything else, I rested. I've read (I'm on my 4th novel since last week), I've watched movies (Jonathan bought me the Anne of Green Gables set for Christmas) and I've spent time simply sitting and watching my kids play (a real joy that I am often too busy to allow myself to do). And that's been great. I hope I remember to hang on to this art of resting and remember to take the time.

Possibly the worst Christmas ever and our entry out of it

My lack of blogging and doing anything in general lately has been a reflection of my extremely busy time leading up to the Christmas Break followed by a period of being sicker than I've ever been to my recollection. It turns out that I had pneumonia, not the flu and am now on some pretty heavy duty antibiotics which have me feeling somewhat normal again. In the midst of all of this (because there is never a convenient time to be sick), one of my husband's good friends passed away. Fortunately, the kids have weathered through this pretty well. They got lost in the Christmas excitement (even if mummy was spending a lot of time sleeping on the couch). I'd say they had a great time and we still have a few days left of vacation to stuff some fun into. We are now in the midst of some serious fingerpainting, drawing, puzzle making, lego creating and storytelling kind of times.