Not a Box....but a Robot!

Rhys started preschool this week. Actually, he's only had one day of it, plus one Preschool Orientation day, but he is already in love with school and his teachers! 

When we went to Preschool Orientation last week, he was just bubbling and bouncing! We sat at the circle mat together and listened to a story together, Not A Box by Antoinette Portis.  As she read it, Miss Harmony (the preschool coordinator) asked the children, "Do you have an imagination?" And Rhys eagerly said, "I don't have 'mag 'nation!"  The parents giggled and we all smiled. The other kids then said, "Yes, I do!" and so he changed his mind and agreed he did as well!

Miss Harmony (who is actually married with two children, but I guess "miss" is easier to remember. When Abi and Kai went to preschool, their teacher was Teacher Michelle.) talked about how she did many things over the summer: boating, swimming, driving, camping. One day, while getting the classroom ready for school to begin, she and Miss Nikki (the other preschool teacher) were playing with a box and using their imaginations. She showed the class a picture of her sitting in a box pretending it was a boat.  Then Miss Nikki showed us her picture of what she was imagining the box to be: her sledding down a snowy hill!  Their challenge was to see if the children could go home and find a box and use their imagination with it. The parents could take a picture of it and they would bring it in to show the class!

Rhys was super excited about this idea!  He kept asking for a box for the rest of the day. He was eager  to turn his into a robot!  

Now, if it were just me helping him, I would've cut out some holes for a head and arms and let that be.  After all, it was supposed to be his "mag' nation"!  But since it was Hunny helping him also, for the robot to be a real "imagined" robot, it had to also be covered in foil!  That excited Rhys even more!

Eden didn't want to be left out, so I made her a robot box as well. (without foil!)

They had lots of fun with their box robots that they had a robot dance party!

Definitely Out of the Box-type thinking! 

Come At Me!

I read an article on HuffingtonPost tonight that made me outright gawfaw!  It was full of all sorts of awesome and truth and laughs. And I needed to read it. Just like you do too.

(click on picture to get to link)

Other mamas are just weaving together families using the unique gifts and challenges and interests they have. They're using what they have like I am. They are much too joyful and scared and fulfilled and empty and tired and inspired and busy living their tough, beautiful lives to concern themselves too much with what I'm doing. (Glennon Melton)

We need start being more kind to ourselves and more compassionate to others.

be a blessing

Everyone has their own secret battles; some days are good and some days may cut deep. Do your part that makes their day more enjoyable.


There was an instance when I was laying in the ER last week.  I was tired and I just wanted to rest, but I ached and I was trying to relax and I thought I was doing fine, really; I had held up good for several hours. A woman walked by my little curtained area, she had come in with a friend and was just walking past when we caught each others eyes and she gave me such a wonderful smile. It shone. She didn't just smile to be polite or friendly. Her smile was big, and encouraging and so warm and friendly; it just took me in. I couldn't help by smile back.

As she walked out of my sight, I marveled at her openness and it made me cry. I was so surprised at how her one gesture could effect me, since I had been treated wonderfully by the paramedics, nurses, lab techs, doctors...it wasn't a fearful or stressful time in the ER. But this woman went beyond being kind and was open and it was so beautiful to have her smile so friendly at me. It comforted me.  She was a blessing to me.

Be a blessing to someone.

one of "those" days

Today is a good day to make soup and bake cookies and stay in pjs and maybe turn on the heat! It's a bit chilly this morning and the Youngers and I didn't sleep well last night. :(

It's been a rough day. It feels like one of those days where all I've been doing is fighting with the kids:

Stop shoving your brother! Don't dip your hands in your soup! Don't wipe your arms with the soup! You're not 'cleaning', you're mucking! Stop sucking on your sister's suckie! Give him back his Lego! Don't throw your garbage on the floor! Don't climb on the table! Get off the counter! Put the knife back down! I told you to wait for me! Leave your brother alone! Don't pretend to shoot your sister! Put your penis back in your pants! Don't put your juice into your soup, eww! Stop yelling, I don't care who did it! Why can't you just share your toys? NO, I am not mean, don't call names. Be careful! Stop!


ARRRRRRGH!!!

I am glad that in 1 1/2 hours I will leave for the school for the Olders, and (hopefully) the kids will nap!

They aren't any more mean or misbehaving than typical, they are just busy and tired and restless and want to get into everything. I worry that I've already somehow failed Eden though. She can be such a handful and does not listen. She's very headstrong. 

Maybe I"m just far too exhausted to deal with it and it's really not that terrible of a day after all. But I tell you, I am looking forward to nap time!!!

peaches come in a can, they were put there by a man....

Oh yes I did!

I canned some peaches this weekend! I am quite proud of myself too!

I probably would've been more proud if I had done it all on my own, but I had help!

Last year, we canned a good 16 jars of peaches and set up an assembly line in our kitchen. MIL was blanching and peeling peaches, Abi was cutting them up and jarring them, Hunny was filling the jars with syrup and heat sealing them. It was a great team. That is, until Abi starting having an allergy attack!  Peaches are on her "possible" list. That is, she is highly allergic (+4) to Alder and Birch, which means, due to cross-pollinating, she could be allergic to hazelnuts, cherries, bananas, peaches, nectarines, kiwi, almonds, apricots, carrots, celery, tomato, chilli pepper, peanuts, papaya, and pineapple. (she has noticed that carrots, tomatoes, kiwi all make her tongue itchy, so we avoid those.) She has no problem eating peaches, so we didn't think anything of it. But then she got really itchy on the inside of her arms, which then quickly spread to her face and her legs, until she was so itchy she was in pain. She didn't break out in hives, thankfully, but we couldn't do anything other than give her some Benedryl and wait for it to work. Poor girl. :(  She can still eat peaches, but she can't touch the outside fuzzy part! (she reacted to the jar of peaches once. I guess it had some residue on it from when we canned them, and it caused a rash of tiny red bumps on her arms.)

This year, the production was smaller. Abi couldn't help me (even though she wanted to), and MIL was busy, and Hunny had plans to read a book. But I was up to the task! I had it all prepared and got myself ready....but then Hunny had to remind me of a few things (what is the syrup solution? how much sugar? how long do I need to keep them in the pot for heat sealing?) I was loosing my self confidence! So Hunny came to my rescue and helped me out.  It meant that I couldn't take all the credit anymore, or prove that I could do it on my own, but it made it go by faster and I knew it would be done right!

I am so blessed that my man grew up doing these strange and neat things (like sewing and cooking and canning!)

Look at those jars of sweet yellow goodness! Mmmm......

ignore the one in the back that is partially full. It didn't seal properly, so we decided to open it now and eat it!  Mmmm...warm sugary peaches. :)

I'm working my way up to canning other things and hopefully will make some jam too!  Our neighbours gave us a bunch of plums off of their tree so I've got to look up recipes. All I can think of is plum sauce to go on top of ice cream or pie. Yum!


And for your listening and watching pleasure, I have added this delightful song back in the day... *big grin*  (and no, you're not too old if you remember this song and still think it's fun!)

Peaches by The Presidents of the United States of America

Growing Signs

My children are growing! As happy as that is, it is also a bit sad!  This weekend they showed us in various way how they are getting bigger and slowly maturing:

1. They didn't complain about dinner!!!  Yes, this is a big one. You see, my children are complainers, as many North American children (lol...don't we read a lot of articles about how the children in Europe are so much better behaved and don't have neurological disorders or ADD and are able to eat dinners with no whining...?) and they also hate anything "spicy"...even things that aren't spicy! Their palates are quite rudimentary, actually. Now, I don't eat a lot of spicy foods either and I think I'm pretty "boring" compared to what some other people eat, but still!  My kids can't seem to even taste lemon & herb spiced chicken without noticing! So imagine my surprise when they ate some Greek rice tonight that contained some pine nuts and had a bit of spice to it and didn't complain! Instead, Kai just asked for a drink and that's when Bryn pointed out that it was spicy. And that was it!!! I was impressed!  And on top of that, Kai even had seconds of the rice! I think that may have to do with him being stuffed up due to his many allergies that he couldn't really taste it, though.

2. They actually drank water!!!! I know, this is crazy! We have been trying to get them to drink more water, and have successfully trained Bryn to have it at night, but we still have a long way to go. Typically, during the day, they will drink juice. I do buy the "better" type of juice (on the cheaper scale), so it doesn't contain as much sugar as the other brands and has vitamins and it says it's 100% real fruit, but still. I would like it if they'd drink more water. Just like I would love it if I could too. :p  But, tonight, Kai grabbed water at dinnertime, and the kids have been drinking small cups of water throughout the day as they've run inside from playing. Woohoo!  I think getting them nice water bottles for school will help keep it up for the Fall too.

Could it be possible that my children are starting to mature? That I can start planning on taking them out to actual restaurants for meals again?  *smile*

when I grow up....

When I grow up, I want to be Lindsay Stirling.

She can play violin (amazingly too) and she can dance? *sigh*

It makes my heart happy.