don't mind if i do

love this print.

might need it 

to hang on the wall 

of my heart.  

here are a few of my recents:

spent the weekend in my swim suit

at the great wolf lodge. 

so so so so so so 

much fun.

feel so so so blessed.

thanks mom & dad.

(photos to come).  

it is amazing how a small amount of time 

"away"

helps me feel so refreshed and happy to 

be back in the routine,

doing my momma duties.

grace.

grace for all my rough edges.

so much grace.

a friend stopped by to borrow my cup cake decorating kit.

in the 6.5 minutes she was in my entry way she told me 

a) i looked thin

b) my house smelled "amazing"

c) my hair had never looked better

or d) all of the above.

 the answer is d.

the answer is

d.

my man.

he's such a man.

and he's mine.

  

this video

jane peed her pants 2 times today.  

the first time was on a wooden chair and none dripped on to the floor,

and the second time was on her bed, on top of the pee protector.  

blessing?  or miracle?

i say both.  

memory foam.

had the best conversation with my kids today 

about when we do 

what we do, 

(whether it is obeying our mommy, 

doing our writing practice, or

doing laundry

every
single
day),

from our heart, with thanksgiving,

we make jesus happy,
and we are usually
 happy
too.

"give thanks whatever happens..."

i thessalonians 5:18a

cold-buster

i have a cold, 

thank goodness for gary's tried and true "cold-buster."

for those of you who are interested,

it's pretty much somewhat similar to a traditional cosmopolitan,

only more cranberry juice and

works like a charm.  

 ...

life is going by too fast.

i haven't been blogging enough.  

stuff is falling through the cracks.

this morning i saw that huge number 5 on the tag of char's pjs 

and had a moment of panic 

followed by the most overwhelming sense of love and gratitude.

i was wiping away the tears when i decided, 

that's it, no more night time cold and flu medicine for me.

the emo-fog did not clear until almost 10am.  

from now on, i'm sticking to my cold-busters.  

no, for reals!

what if i don't remember this stuff:

yesterday my 5 year old told me that

 she knows everything about trees and also, "secret ingredients (wink wink)."  

well, there, i've done my job.  

she knows about secret ingredients.  

everything else should just fall into place.  

this morning bo woke me up (at 6:14am) 

to tell me that char didn't want to play with him because he was a robot.

all i could do was yell from my night-time-cold-and-flu-coma

 "girls! you can find a way to play robots with your brother"

and they did.  

they played mommy, daddy and baby robots until 7:14am

when i dragged my bones out of bed to pour the milk into their honeycomb cereal.  

bodhi talks in his sleep almost every night.

it's my favorite thing and i will stop whatever 

i am doing to go listen.

the other day char asked me if she could have the

tin that i keep the odd tea's in.

it is pretty cool.  

it was my mom's when i was growing up.

 it's pale green and 

each side has a maiden representing each season.

i said "no."

to which she replied, "when you die, can i have it?"

to which i should have replied,

"sure, now can you go grab me the broom, i need to sweep my heart off the floor."

jane calls me "maw maw" and she does it in way

that puts chinese water torture to shame.

but when she is sad,

she says, "maw maw, i need you"

and i am defenceless.  

those are the magic words.

ok. i need to go put my cold-and-flu-butt to bed.

i will rest a little better,

med-free,

knowing these goods are on the books.

sweet sleeper

(edit)
i've decided to remove all my grumpy momma comments.
it just didn't sit right, if you know what i mean.
...
i love this girl.
don't tell her i said this, but truth be told,
i think she might be stronger
than me.

what they say

my children have incredible minds

and the stuff that comes out of their mouths 

equals my regular humour, bemusement and joy.

jane-z is so small 

 and yet her words are so many

and her personality so strong.

she is fiercely independent.

everything is 

"by-ny-self!"

which translates, "all by my self,"

and applies to everything:

opening her cheese string

opening the microwave

putting her socks on

putting her seatbelt on

putting on the lid to her milk cup

wiping

reading her favorite "tiny books."

you go girl! 

wipe away.

that's what night time baths are for!

bo continues to be ever so articulate and de-script.

he's fine to make up a word if there are none available that meet his needs.

for example:

"wronky"

"skwinky"

"poinker"

these kinds of words often apply to what's for dinner 

or how the food feels in his mouth.

charlee.

well, the girl just does something to my heart.

the other evening she offered up this prayer before our supper:

"dear jesus,

thank you for your grace and 

thank you that you are my shepherd 

and thank you for all our foods

i know that you are my God

am...

oh. and when my heart is sad,

will you make it feel better.

amen."

amen.

baby, it's cold outside

"our new sister" 

well, that's what they call her.

her official name is "frosty."

or "carl," i think.

the kids did most the work this year. 

(so crazy).

as they rolled her, patted her, and smoothed her 

they gave her so many sweet hugs and little love-whispers,

like they really believed she was their long lost sister.

i chuckled to myself the whole time.

you can see the affection in their faces.

(bo?)

...

we are loving the snow.

and the fireplace.

and the view from our windows

(i wish i knew how to photograph my house).

the kids and i have been home.

we have been dining on 

loaves of warm-from-the-machine bread, 

 homemade hot cocoa.

and buckets of greek honey yogurt.

and this is the track on repeat in my mind. 

seven am

this was me.

and my kids. and my coffee.
you?

 

 

for hours

true story

once upon a tuesday morning...

 hot chocolate?

there she is.

THE END


revision
[until she puked 2 hours later]

this blows my mind

happy sunday.

fantastik

this evening i let charlee stay up 

and watch Nacho Libre.

you can question whether or not it was a good mom move.

i'm still not sure myself.  

...

i tell char often that being the big sister means 

you get to love and serve your younger siblings,

which means you help more,

you give more,

you set the example.

it means you take your sister to the bathroom,

you clean up most of the toys by yourself

and you graciously give up the last fruit bar.

tonight i got to tell her that with responsibility

and good attitude 

comes 

privilege...

and ring fights with mom in the living room directly following.  

...

such a great movie, btw.

i laughed almost as hard as i did when i first saw it, 

two nights before char was born.

oxoOxXo

this is her favorite line.

i have so many, i can't decide.

this is one.

as is the following.