May long in Lethbridge-Happy Bday Queen Vicky

We celebrated the late queen in family bliss:

Three (consecutive) sleep-in mornings (as Nana volunteered to take Wrenny for her daily 6:30am constitutional) and hanging out with the Lethbridge Fam for a few relaxing days. Eating, swimming, lounging in the park, eating excellent food...hmmmm. ahhhhh.
Some might contend with my choice of the adjective "relaxing" when, at times, the weekend included 5 adults and 3 small children in a 1500 sqft premise, but I would heartily disagee!
We also had a little visit with Pops and Joanne as they came through Cranbrook enroute the cabin...while Finn romped around in stellar form-performing his best version of the past-bedtime crazies!! All, including Wrenny, were duly entertained.

Here are pics of the last days.

She sits like a pro!

Before bedtime movie with Finn and cousin Skye

Uncle Robby. Uncle Cool.

Nana's home is transformed by a layer of trucks and blocks, pillows and crumbs.
Incredibly, she does not seem to mind!

A few pics of the Ladies in the morning.

Finn-the toddler.

The breakfast Club....

....followed later by the Supper Club-here with the Thiessen Hepher Fam.

After the bath-this is a quintissential Wrenny Grin.

overalls

what's not to love about a kid in these fetching threads?

And speaking of over-all: my sis in law's blog informs me that you can save ALL your blog entries in book form for the sake of posterity.
how very awesome!
see BLURB

A Sad May Day

Today marks the one year anniversary of my friend Doug's death in a tragic mining accident.
I miss him so often and so hard.
Tonight, we are all heading out to his property (where mike and I got married) and we celebrate the First Annual "Doogie Boogie" to remember a fella who knew how to live and love with grace and ease and laughter.
I raise my glass to you Doug.

End of an era

This mothers day will go down with a few top stories including:

-sleeping in till 615am
-top of the morning with a poem and chocolate from hubsy on the kitchen table
-Finn and I walking home from church in the rain-him in all the puddles-all the way!!
-a band practice with my beloved Crows where I finally broke the news that I would be leaving the band-as it has become too much for me with this present adventure of child-formation to keep on in a "workin' band"!
Thats apretty big deal after some 15 years.

Now bathed and sleepy, decked in mismatched but cozy pajamas,
i feel a deep satisfaction in letting go.
The familiar is going to be a very rich and rewarding and lively memory.

Now the road takes a small turn and I await the creative pursuits that lie ahead.
For now-
its a whole lot of early morning walks with a smiling baldy perched on my back-drinking the world in with 7 month old eyes,
and the chatter of a boy who loves a laugh and goldfish cracker who loses himself in the Sandbox World every wakingday.
And its rediscovering a more complex connection to the man who saw enough in me to say-I Do.

Onward ho.
here's to the great (and daily) unknown.

Mother's Eve

I am thinking of the women in my life that have mothered me.
besides the obvious. (Whom i will miss this day the most.)

my other mothers:
My sister Irene, who has always watched over me-as little mother
My Tante Ernel-who always prays for me and keeps my Mama's memory fresh,
My Auntie Dale Ann-who keeps the love of life and simplicity of Joy current in my days,
My Momo-who has never rushed in, but has always let love unfold itself in the mildest and yet fullest, richest way.

Thank you.

for looking after my heart when it needs tending,
for listening to my stories, because I do so need to tell them!
and for believing that i could indeed become a mother myself-
an incredible gift, at which I am still bewildered and beguiled!

We had a party to celebrate on the eve of.
Complete with chocolate, Gin and yes, several more good, nay GREAT mothers.

pics o' kids

Not that our kids have changed significantly over the last days...but a few pics of them anyways, becuase they're just so darn cute on a daily basis!!

Yesterday was Jenny's bday and we had a pizza party.
We had Jenny and her 2 kids and our 2 and our friends Nichole and Ken with their 2 kids...so our 1000 square feet were maxed. After supper we sent them out to the sandbox and they returned only when the sun was fading.

Note: jolly faced baby: Baby Jack, now 4.5 months!

Our buddy Paige

..came over for the day as her parents were moving to a new house!!
We had a whale of a time, except for Wrenny..where it was more of a Wail: she is sick and crabby and busted out a new tooth yeaterday...

Last Weekend in April

Nana visited us this weekend.
We did all the things that Nana and her grandkids and son and DIL do best:
the Park, The Pool, The Restaurant Lunch Out, A long leisurely trip to the Mall (by Mike and I) and best of all: The Sleep-In!!
We miss you Nana!

A Good Book

is one that you wish you had written....if you were more articulate and clever and such. I have found such a book in "Eat, Pray Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert. Am about halfway and found such an inspiring quote, that I emailed it to a friend and now want to post it here...not just because it took me sooo long to type (7 fingers and all) but because it truly inpires me. Here it is then. Grab your teacup and plan for a short walk around the block to meditate after!!

"The search for God is a reversal of the normal, mundane worldly order. In the search for God, you revert from what attracts you and swim toward that which is difficult. You abandon your comforting and familiar habits with the hope (the mere hope!) that something greater will be offered you in return for what you've given up. Every religion in the world operates on the same common understandings of what it means to be a good disciple-get up early and pray to your God, hone your virtues, be a good neighbour, respect yourself and others, master your cravings. We all agree that it would be easier to sleep in, and many of us do, but for millenia there have been others who chose instead to get up before the sun and wash their faces and go to their prayers. And then fiercely try to hold on to their devotional convictions throughout the lunacy of another day.
The devout of this world perform rituals without guarantee that anything good will ever come of it. Of course there are plenty of scriptures and plenty of priests who make plenty of promises as to what your good works will yield (or threats as to the punishment awaiting if you lapse), but to even believe all this is an act of faith, because nobody amongst us is shown the endgame. Devotion is diligence without assurance. Faith is a way of saying "yes, I pre-accept the terms of the universe and I embrace in advance what I am presently incapable of understanding". There's a reason we refer to "leaps of faith"-because the decision to consent to any notion of divinity is a mighty jump from the rational over to the unknowable...If faith were rational, it wouldn't be-by definition, faith. Faith is belief in what you cannot see or prove or touch. Faith is walking face-first and full-speed into the dark. If we truly knew all the answers in advance as to the meaning of life and the nature of God and the destiny of our souls, our belief would not be a leap of faith and it would not be a courageous act of humanity: it would be just ...a prudent insurance policy.
I'm not interested in the insurance industry. I'm tired of being a skeptic. I'm irritated by spiritual prudence and I feel bored and parched by empirial debate. I don't want to hear anymore. I couldn't care less about evidence and proof and assurances. I just want God. I want God inside me. I want God to play in my bloodstream the way sunlight amuses itself on water."

Crazy little Talent

I just received this as an email and it kind of made me beebop... this four year old accordian player with a big personality and sound.

Picnic Lunch 2 days in a row..

First on our lawn and then at the downtown park today.
Little containers of tiny, sweet tomoatoes, pretzels, cheese and Landjaeger cut into toddler-sized bits, fruits and cookies and Ribena (Blackcurrant bevie) etc etc etc.

We are Kings and queens of the Sunshine over here in the Kootenays.
Wrenny even got a slight sunburn(her first) in her jolly jumper in the backyard-attatched to a little hook by the sandbox.
Doesn't get much better.
But now, I sound like I am bragging, and that never did any one a lick of good.

Hot Rocks and other mysteries uncovered

9:30 am found me crying beside a rail crossing full of train. A sight Finn would have loved, but not me. I was driving up to a "hot rock massage" on the wrong side of the tracks, as it were..it was a gift certificate from friends when Wrenny was born. Six months later I was redeeming it. Babysitter lined up, raining like bilio, car seals leaking and me rounding the corner to a descending red and white rail arm, ding-dinging happily into place. I thought for sure I would miss 15 precious minutes of the already-been-paid-for-massage. I had anticipated this massage for MONTHS.
I said nasty words to the train, which of course, did nothing except make me feel very small and stuck beside many tonnes of rocking steel.

The good news? The Masseuse was a kind hearted woman who always expects delays due to the frequency of the trains. She saw me my full hour. The hot Rocks and massage and even the old movie intrumental muzak pouring out of the cd player all did their magic and 60 minutes later I was a puddle of endorphins. WOW.

if you ever get a chance, I recommend!

A calm wish a in a sea of Household chaos

Feeling entirely overwhelmed by the household..
but here i sit anyways..thinking about what i really still would like to do before the decade is out.

knit more..small baby things out of excellent hand dyed or at least organic yarn..to sell and to put money back into my planet somehow.

sew more...also the same idea

feature the first composting toilet on my block..perhaps in all of downtown

make a children's album of original tunes that are silly and hip and use outrageous instruments like perhaps toothbrushes or jello with a spoon..amd have all my favourite musicians play on it

travel with my little clan to the east coast one fine September and campin ou r van..or someone elses.

those are all my wishes for now..

well, ok one more..

I want a chicken. actually maybe two or five..to have my own eggs.
but thats it really.
for today.

A Week Away

Sorry that the order of these pics are a bit muddly...We have returned after a 5 day stint in Salmon Arm to meet baby Tomi. Mike had his own adventure in between there as he travelled further from Salmon Arm to White Rock to visit his best friend Jeff and wife Marcia and cutiepie Gracie (27 months). My Dad and Annemarie and Irene all came out over the days we were there. We had a really excellent visit with all-a smorgesborg of early mornings and interupted nights -as one expects with 4 kids under 2 in the house), walks and parks, meals and games and just alot of hanging out time with various combinations of family. The grand finale was a kid-free fondue on wednesday night..a Really wonderful time. Thanks Moni and Richard!!

Mike then picked us up from Salmon Arm while driving through from the Coast and we travelled some 8 hours further to the East Shore of Kootenay Lake..at the Hepher Family cabin (est. 1980).

The traditional "opening of the Cabin" was done by Mike at 9pm in full darkness with two almost asleep kids and an idling car for light. He seached for valves and breakers and what-not so that we too could enjoy a warm night and running water once inside the cabin. The next morning at the crack of 11 am,I returned home to Cranny with Wren to partake in all the Easter festivities. This included a Good Friday Fish Fry /Egg hunt, a Saturday evening Easter Vigil (Where I was the Sponsor for our little friend baby Jack Slater on his baptism) and then music for the Easter Service at our own Church. Wrenny and I slept over at our very hospitable friends Jack and Dale Ann..who started off by saying they could Look after Wrenny on Satruday Night, and then agreeing to me to sleeping over and then fed me breakie on Easter morning and watched Wren while I went to music pratice at 8 am.
Wine and Dark Chocolate included!!
We have the best friends indeed.
And speaking of friends..another real highlight of the weekend was seeing my friend Erin who was also down from the coast for the weekend and having two satiating visits whilst she knitted and I sewed on the patio with my new bevie of choice (which I have dubbed "Anie Hard Apple": one part citris vodka, one part sour apple flavouring and one part sprite, on ice.)
serve with spring sunshine and no sunscreen-just to catch that first important freckle of the season)


Mike and Finn stayed at the cabin Friday to Sunday and were joined by Mike's dad (Pops) and brother and our nephew Skye. They spent some sunshiney days on the pebble beach and in the cozy confines of a 4oo square foot cabin with a two and four year old. Meanwhile, Wrenny and I met Mike and Finn at the Lake on Sunday afternoon after the others had all left and spent a nice evening there. We drove through a brazen sunset towards dinner at the Grey Creek Restaurant, and reminisced about the fact that Easter Sunday 6 years ago-we were engaged.

Although we had a wonderful time, the whole deal seems to have worn Finn out. he has really piqued in his two-year-old self and the last 3 days have been very exhausting as we go from one tantrun to the next without much in-between time. Like contactions only more frustrating and seemingly without much resolution. Any prayers, well wishing and advice welcome. I'm pretty sure a few days at home will settle him somewhat and he is still the charmingest and funniest kid...just has developed an edge. As my friend Jenny says: our kids have to hit these stages so that we are more willing to let them be independent and leave us. And that we are ok with that. For now-the sandbox is turning into a full-time vocation for Finn!

At the end of the Day

I am sipping a new flavour of Mike's Hard Lemonade called Crisp Apple.
I recommend.
Kids are sleeping.
Dryer thumping and it has been a day in the sunshine.
We spent the afternoon outside. I was in a t-shirt on the swing reading my new book on Organic Housekeeping while Finn played in his sandbox and Wrenny snoozed in her cradle within the baby monitor's reach.
And in the evening after our monthly potluck at the Church (where I brought a very canadian dish of instant jello, cool whip and grahams,) the kids were tucked into bed after a story. As seen here. One of those good day memories...to keep for the not-so-good days!!

Giggling

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Easter Dress

I can hardly believe it.
I have sewn a dress for my Wrenny-bird for Easter.
Am about to start another for little neice Tomi.
The actual miracle is that in the span of 4 days I bought, washed, cut out and sewed this little thing during the daylight hours.
Kids galloping around, naps coming and going.
I feel like I am a superhero.
Superstitch. Thats me!

Come on, Spring!

We have 7 yellow crocusus and 3 purple ones.
I am thinking the seasons must be blurring one into the other.
Another wonderful outdoor day..this time with our little buddy Paige.
On the hard days of parenting, I try to think about the freedom and the sunshine and all the crazy things out of the mouth of 2 year olds and their friends...and that gets me by.

Scooter motion

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First Scooter ride for 2007

Finn and "Baba" did the alley loop behind the house several times today.
Finn with Mike's buddy helmet.

Wrenny slept through all of it. She'll get her chance next year.

Toddler-free Fridays

Girls Morning out.
Finn's at Jenny's till noonish.
Mike and I have have our weekly coffee date (double shot mocha). At home.
While Wrenny sleeps.
Mike and I talked about all the dream ideas of renovating...
Then Wrenny and I went to the Superstore and bought a few neccesities and a copy of Blueprint for me. Weeeeeee.
Good times.

Sunshine at last

The sun came out.
we went out to greet it.
armed with side walk chalk, rubber boots and a sense of giddiness that comes with a thawed lawn.

in the melt we found: a lost car key, a pen, 2 trucks and miscellaneous nomadic plastic pieces.
Finn commented his enjoyment by saying he was happy and Wren fell asleep in a slant of sunlight with Mausi checkin' in every onece in while.
Today we woke to a skiff of snow. blah.

alas, soon the minus weather will be behind and we will don rakes, gloves and perhaps sunscreen even. Until then we'll still keep our mitts handy by.

There's no place like home, there's no place like home...

whew.

we made it home.
First from Lethbridge to Lundbreck (Wrenny entertained with 45 minutes of all out screaming) and then after a lovely visit with the Stephens clan, on Monday morning from Lundbreck to home.
and that latter part was a bit of an adventure.
including:

• one car boost to get the car started in the morning (no kids inside),

• one diesel tank fill with car running so as not to have it stall and die again
• a right signal light turned on to highway three to cause need for:
• one boost from 2 nutty CP Rail workers
• another boost as the car dies whilst idling
• an attempt to mickey mouse my lost belt beside the alternator with rope and handy blow torch by said CPR workers
• one (and then 3 more) call to Mike saying I really can't ride this car home from the windiest corner of the Alberta with two kids
• one or 12 tears
• one exclamation by 2 year old "car fick-ix?"
• one under my breath bad word
• and thankfully: one lovely red long cab truck borrowed from Mark and Daphne to come home.

that's the story on that!
Mike is just now taking the trip back to Lundbreck to install the said belt and fix worn out pully and bring our jetta home.
I'm about done for car adventure for a few weeks.
That being said..I think I will be going to see baby Tomi before the month is out!