A Corner Table in My World

Summer sports and activities have always been a cinch in our family - swimming, rafting, hiking, biking, camping, etc... There's never been a shortage of things to do or new things to try during the summer.  But Winter - those long, cold months that (especially in Canada) can seem to stretch endlessly on, have consistently posed a problem. The kids enjoy tobogganing , especially at the farm, and sledding usually includes some minor fort and snowman building , but that only uses up a couple hours and while it can be fun Heli Dad and I only enjoy this type of cold day play for short bursts.  Not to mention that the kids inevitably argue over the best sleds, the best method of building a snow home, or the correct and best way to accessorize the snow people.  And those are just arguments that neither Heli Dad or I want to stick our (by then) freezing noses into. We've tried ice skating ... A couple times.  Princess liked it right off.  Gamer Boy eventually de...

Every year at Christmastime we spend a great deal of time with our families. This past Christmas was no different.  Our first celebration of the year is always with Heli Dad's side of the family.  This day is always fun and the kids especially always love it, as all the cousins that have been of an age to play with are on this side.  It was a day of fun conversation and planning get-togethers for the coming year and more!   For several days before Christmas the kids and I went through bins and bins of clothes that we've "put away" to give away at some point.  That point finally came (as it hadn't at any time in the past) and we gave tons of clothes away to charity.  Both the kids and I were amazed by how much there was to give away, and hope that everything passed on will find a new home with someone who will appreciate it.   We made/started a new tradition this year of decorating the tree (with the hanging décor) on Christmas Eve.  In the p...

So right now there are probably a dozen other things that I should be doing.   Not only that, but I had an entirely different post written that I intended to put up and then this morning I had a little snafu.   I don’t know what else to call it without making it seem way more important than it really is so snafu is what I settled on. I mentioned a while ago that I was having problems getting Baby on the ice at skating but that I was using the “wisdom” that I’d learned from my experiences with Boy to get through them, or around them, and not completely stress myself out.   Well apparently I spoke WAY too soon. The last couple of weeks I haven’t been able to get Baby to do anything.   And I do mean anything.   I can’t get her to skate, to do gymnastics, to listen at home, to keep her clothes on… nothing.   She’s started having temper tantrums more and more frequently, she’s always been the most strong-willed of the kids even if she’s usually more sub...

The Husband made a very quick trip down this weekend so that he could be here for Halloween – 90% of the fun of being a parent on Halloween, I’m told, is getting to dress up and trick or treat with your kid.   Last year he missed the occasion so this time around he used great effort to make it back down, arriving about 4:30am on Sunday and leaving again Tuesday afternoon. As with any visit home, a lot of his Sunday was spent like this. And then came Halloween! Costumes, candy, tempers, attitudes, trips to the farm and fun… Oh my! Hope you had a completely awesome Halloween and that you survived the insanity.

The Boy is finally 5-years-old!!! I say finally because now that his birthday is over and done with for this year, I don’t have to listen to any more random “I want that for my birthday!” shouts.  (Of course, Christmas is just over 2 months away so before too much longer it’s going to be a chorus of “I want that for Christmas!” outbursts… Joy.)  But things worked out pretty well for the kid this year, he got what he needed, most of what he wanted and a few other things that not even he had thought of yet! From Cars stuff, Transformers stuff, clothes, crafts, and an actual Box Car, he was happily,  materialistically appeased and by the family and friends that managed to make the party he was very grateful.   Special thanks to Auntie B, Uncle G, Cousin J, Cousin G, Auntie M, ‘Auntie’ D, Luke and kids, and Grandma, Grandma and Grandpa for coming to the movie and to eat and play! Then we were off to Thanksgiving at the farm with the family.  ...

So the Boy really wanted a party with  a Bouncy House-thing which, unless I were to rent just a bouncy house, means the YMCA… again.  There’s nothing wrong with that, we’ve attended parties there that were fun and done well, but last year when we had the Boy’s party there we were really dissatisfied with the service, accommodations and “games” that we received.  The kids still had fun but considering the vast differences between what we’d been promised and what we actually got, we didn’t feel we got our money’s worth.  So… no YMCA. The Boy at 1-year-old Instead the Boy and I discussed things and decided on doing a movie party.  He was especially stoked for the idea when we discovered that Cars 2 (the “most awesome and cool movie ever!”) would be playing! So details on how that all goes will come later… (only a couple more days!) This last weekend I went to Edmonton and stayed with Jen and Ed (the “most awesome and cool” big sister and brother[in...

In the 8 months since I last updated it’s sort of depressing to admit that not a lot has happened. There have been no GIANT changes in my life, or any of our lives, and in all honesty much is exactly the same.  Good or bad, I don’t know, but that’s the way it’s been. Still… 8 months is a long time to say nothing, even if nothing amazing has happened.  I did go back to work in January – as much because Obie was finally home for the winter and could watch the kids and take care of the “family” stuff, as any great need to.  I continued doing that throughout the winter, spring and early summer, but after the husband had gone back north to work (in early May) that became something of a challenge as I working grave-shifts so I ended up leaving that job in mid-July.  Now of course I’m looking for another job that accommodates my family life and availability, or something else that I can do.  Which is not an easy feat as many of you know. We actually managed t...