Happy Canada Day!!

Happy Canada Day everyone!! Especially my Canadian friends!

Ok, I know I'm a day early, but I don't think I'll have time to post tomorrow, so just pretend this is tomorrow, k?

You see, my sister had her baby boy last night, so tomorrow I'll be travelling to her neck of the woods to see the family and meet my new nephew!! I'm so excited to be an aunt for the second time! I remember when my niece, M, was born I was completely taken by surprise at how much I instantly loved her. I know, it shouldn't be surprising to love a child, but I didn't think someone else's child could come close to the love I feel for my own children, even someone as close to me as my sister.

But I loved (and still do, of course) M instantly, and profoundly, and that made it even harder to be over an hour's drive from my sister.

So I am looking forward to meeting this little guy, and experiencing that love once again. Isn't it amazing how love grows and grows?

Let The Summer Begin!

Well, summer is not off to a great start. Our first day off school (yesterday, Friday, was a PA Day) was spent mostly inside. Which really sucks, because it was such a nice day. But poor L has had a fever now since Tuesday (just a virus, the doctor claims) and I was sick with his flu (or whatever) on Thursday, so yesterday I wasn't feeling terribly energetic either.
Hopefully this is not a sign of the summer to come!
We actually did pretty well this winter. Minimal colds, no flu (thank God!) and only a couple of ear/throat infections all around.
So I hope we are not going to be making up for our good fortune here during the summer!
The summer flies by so quickly! We have to pack in a whole year's worth of fun into only 10 weekends (maybe 11). That has to include cottage trips, amusement park trips, camping trips, beach trips, some sort of vacation (meaning for me, no cooking or cleaning, so ---hotel somewhere) and of course, visiting friends and family trips. YIKES! How do we do it, you say? We don't. We never really get to do all we want to do in one summer, and as much as we want to. These trips are on top of regular home maintenance and also home improvements to boot. It's really overwhelming to think of it all.
So you see, we just can't, can't, CAN'T get sick!!

Bittersweet

So today, L graduated from Kindergarten. On to Grade one next year.
I have a lot of mixed feelings about this.
I am firstly, sad. Sad because he is my youngest, my baby. He is no longer a "preschooler", but now he will be a fulltime school-ager. I don't get to spend as much time with him now, as he was going to school every other day, and I cherished those days when he was home. I liked to spend time with him, just him and I in the afternoons while all the other kids I look after were asleep.
Of course, I am proud of him, and happy that he is growing and healthy and smart.
But I can't help being tearful about the whole thing. I cried the other night, for about an hour, going through all his schoolwork and the "memory album" he brought home from school. They change so much in a year. And I know that time picks up speed now. The years start to just fly by once they get to grade school. I can scarcely believe that R will be in Grade three next year! That seems so old to me, and yet, he is still my little boy.
And then I am happy again, because unlike some parents, I love the time when they aren't in school. I love having them home with me, getting to spend every day with them. And of course, I'm happy I don't have to make lunches for a whole summer!

Wildflowers

For weeks I have been walking the kids to school and thinking about how I need to bring my camera along with me. There is this "naturalized" area that we pass through, that has a hill full of wildflowers. They are so pretty, or they were a week ago when the hill was covered with them. Now that I FINALLY remembered to bring my camera along with me, there aren't as many, so this picture doesn't do it justice. I think the flowers are called Bachelor's Button, or at least that's what one mom called them once. I will have to Google it.

Ok, I am still getting used to using this blog program, it doesn't seem very user friendly to me, but whatever. I tried to put another picture between the paragraphs, but instead it went on top of the picture of the blue flowers, and I don't know how to get it off, or move it, so there it is. It is my picture of the Sweet William that is growing in this same area. I love this flower. It is soooo pretty. I am very tempted to go and dig it up and plant it in my own garden, but would that be like stealing? I don't know... I wouldn't want someone to see me doing it anyhow.

Calling Cards

I am frustrated beyond all belief.

Being the anal-retentive mom that I am, I decided to make my boys "calling cards". I've realized over the past few summers, that it is very difficult to make playdates on those boring days, when you don't have the child's phone number, or last name, or know where they live! Last year, around this time of year, I got R to have his friends at school write down their phone numbers. But it is sometimes difficult to decipher a 6 year old's handwriting.

So, I decided to make calling cards for my two, and hopefully they won't get lost by the other kids' moms and my kids might actually be popular this summer.

I used Microsoft Publisher for the first time today. It isn't too hard to figure out, only getting it to print correctly was a bit tricky. I actually had some business card sheets lying around, but no matter what I did, I could not for the LIFE OF ME, get this DAMN thing to print correctly!! I'd print out a tester sheet first, using plain paper. But when it would turn out alright, I'd put in the thicker business card sheet, and BAM, it would come out wrong. The card would not line up with the perforated edges no matter what. ARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!

So, I gave up, and I printed them on plain paper, and I think we will cut them out, and then glue them onto the business cards. Sigh......

"Somebody's gonna getta hurt..."

Saw Russell Peters last night. Sooooo good. Sooooo funny. 'Nough said.

Sunscreen Confusion

I am soooo confused. It seems that at every turn, I am getting more conflicting information.

Remember the days when we didn't wear sunscreen? Only if we were going to the beach for the day? Then, along came the information that we should wear sunscreen regularly on SUNNY days. That was back when in our house, we had an SPF 4, an SPF 8, and woah, hold on, you won't believe it, an SPF 15!! Wow, can you imagine that? LOL.

We all thought SPF 15 was REALLY strong.

Then along came SPF 30 (Oh, my goodness!) and more info that you should wear sunscreen even on cloudy days (which I still don't; yah, I know, bad me.)

Nowadays, you can find SPF 50 up to 80 (I think that's the highest I've seen so far).

Personally, being a fair redhead, I've always stuck with the 45 to 55 range.

Recently though, my hubby heard that there really is no difference between the 30 and higher. You are no better protected wearing SPF 60 than you are SPF 30. Waaahh??? Apparantly, if you are forking out for the thick, creamy, 70, you are wasting your money.

Ohhhhhhhhhkaaaaaaaayyyyy.......

We are just supposed to put on the sunscreen every two hours.

I remember a time I was informed that you are supposed to use a higher SPF every time you reapplied in a day.

SOOOOOO CONFUSING!!!

Now I just heard that sunscreen contains many toxic ingredients, which is why we shouldn't put it on babies (I always thought it was for allergy reasons), and that really, the only safe sunscreen would be that zinc stuff that doesn't absorb into the skin, it just sits on top. Ick.

I'd rather be fully clothed, thank you.

So I don't know what we are supposed to think. I can't stay inside all summer, and wouldn't anyway. I also can't be fully clothed all summer either, I'd die of heat! So I guess it's down to this - wear sunscreen (30, 'cause, less chemicals that way), reapply often (ugh) and at least die a little slower of the toxins than I would of skin cancer!

HOORAY!!! It's that time of year again...

Click on the picture to make it bigger... The first strawberries of the season from my garden!!! Yaaayy! I LOVE fresh, Ontario strawberries; they are the BEST strawberries in the world.

Ok, I know, I sound a little over-enthusiastic, but when you live in a country where your produce is home-grown and fresh for only a few months a year, you do tend to get a little excited about the season. And other than peach season, strawberry season is my favourite! I have yet to taste strawberries from anywhere else that are better than fresh, Ontario strawberries. YUM!

And these babies were no exception...

They were a little earlier than normal, which is kind of weird considering the crazy cold weather we've been having, but in a few weeks we'll be able to go strawberry picking and I soooo look forward to coming home with baskets upon baskets of them.

When I was a kid, we'd eat so many strawberries at this time, that we'd actually get tired of them!

So here's to strawberry season... Hip Hip Hooray!

A Visitor

Ok, I'm going to try this again. Yesterday, I wrote a whole blog entry only to have it NOT save, and then of course was gone. Frustrating.

So here is our little visitor. Our little friend named Stumpy, due to his lack of tail. We don't know what happened to him, perhaps he was even born that way. At any rate, it doesn't seem to affect his balance at all; he is just as nimble as any other squirrel I've seen.

Last year, Stumpy got bolder and bolder as we fed him peanuts, and eventually came up to the back sliding door to receive his treats, even taking them from my hand. I won't let the kids feed him by hand, as once he accidentally bit my finger (didn't make a mark or even hurt) and then I was thinking about rabies. I know, paranoid, but he might have another even more exotic disease he's ready to pass on.

So over the long cold winter we had, I wondered frequently about how he was doing. When spring came, I looked for him, and feared that he didn't make it through. But then suddenly, one day he came back, although it seemed that he didn't remember our "friendship". He would bolt when I'd open the back door.

Yesterday, however, he didn't run. I threw him a peanut, and then he came up on the deck to get another. After about four peanuts, he grew brave enough to come and get one from my hand again. Now he stands at the back door, peering into our kitchen as if to say, "Well, what have you got for me today?"

What have I started? LOL

Welcome back Stumpy.

Little Rider

Ok, you know how I said that I wasn't really in any hurry to take of L's training wheels yet? Well, they're off.
I had been noticing on his rides to and from school that he was barely using the training wheels at all. Most of the time, they weren't touching the ground, and he was balancing easily in between.
So yesterday I asked him if he'd like to try riding his brother's old bike (which is close to his bike's size, and already has the trainers off which left less work for me if he decided that wasn't his cup of tea just yet), and he said yes.
So, off I went, getting my workout running up and down the sidewalk. But I didn't really have to hold on, he mostly balanced all by himself! I reminded him to put his feet down if he felt unsteady, and for the most part I only had to help him stop and start.
Today, he was even better. He started to be able to turn. So I took his training wheels off on his bike, as it is a little smaller and easier for him to control, and I just couldn't believe how amazing he was doing! He even executed a tight u-turn, and has almost got the hang of starting! I'm just so proud of him, and a little sad too. It's bittersweet how your babies grow up and don't need help anymore isn't it? *sniff*

Baby

I want another baby.

I don't want another baby.

This is how my mind works. I waver back and forth, back and forth, between the two decisions. How does anyone truly decide that they are finished having children? I know for some, it is not a choice unfortunately. Nature decides for them. Others have such horrible preganancies and deliveries that they just can't fathom doing it even one more time.

But what about the people like me? How do they decide? My pregnancies weren't horrible; they were pretty average. Some morning sickness the first few months, plus some of all the other fun stuff, like varicose veins, hemmorhoids, swelling, blah, blah, blah. But in the end, it's worth it I think. My kids are worth everything to me.

Of course, I say that now, right this moment, when I'm not feeling miserably sick and tired, and when I'm not suffering with aching legs, or a torn perineum from giving birth.

How quickly we forget.

Then there are those days when I feel sick, genuinely sick, due to virus or otherwise, and I just can't even bear to think about feeling that way for three months straight, PLUS having to get up at 6 am everyday, PLUS having to trek back and forth to the school twice a day, PLUS having to work through it looking after kids and having no sick days.

There are also those nights when one of my boys cries out, and I stumble out of bed barely conscious to find out what is wrong (sick? bad dream?) and I thank God that I don't have to do that every night. In the middle of the night, it's pretty hard to convince yourself that you want to go back to sleepless nights again, especially when you've had it good for a while now.

But then there are the times that I think about my own family. I grew up the oldest of four, and while we had many arguments, fights and general sibling rivalry issues, we are all pretty close now. I love my sisters and brother; I'm so grateful for them. I just can't imagine having come from a smaller family.

My boys are close. I love that. I hope they stay that way forever. They'll always have each other, but is it enough? Wouldn't it be nice for them to have just one more sibling?

Recently, a good friend of mine had a baby. We went to visit her the day after she came out of the hospital. R wanted to hold the baby. He was enamoured. It was magical to watch, and my mind marveled at it; I so much wanted to see what he would be like with a small baby sister or brother of his own.

Of course, there is one small problem with all of this.

My husband.

He is very comfortable with where we are right now, and doesn't feel those motherly urges to have any more. He would be hard to convince, therefore, I would have to have a very strong conviction to bring up and win this debate. And I don't. As I said, I waver. A lot.

I just don't want to be forty, or fifty, and thinking, "Gee, I wish I had just done it and had another one! And now it's too late..." I suppose I will have to leave it to fate to decide somehow...