#87- My kind of date

Eric and I slipped away for a walk to a super-secret location that he introduced me to awhile ago, the last time we went everything was still dead and gray, I've been dying to go again while everything is still green and full of life. Sooo beautiful, not another human soul to be seen, and not even out of London!

Forget fancy dinner & a movie; this is my kind of date!

When we were away on our YWAM schools, we would scratch our initials in random trees on our journeys, Jordan, Costa Rica, New Zealand, Panama, Taiwan...I don't know of there has yet been a tree in London:)

#86- Rosalie turns 2!

We tried to keep the big day a little more low-key than previous experiences:) I think we pulled it off pretty well, she was very happy and excited all day that it was finally HER birthday! "Happy birthday to ROSIE! Thank you!" This is also a particularly special year as it is her 'golden birthday' (2 on Sept. 2)

We gave her the strawberry shortcake doll collection this year as last year she wasn't really ready for it. I also spent the night before putting together an attempt at a cardboard box dollhouse which looked pretty spiffy until about 20 minutes after she started playing with it.
The gift was a HUGE hit though! She loved it and spent most of the morning and day playing with it. 

Some friends of ours came over to have cake and ice-cream and then they watched Oliver and Isaac while Eric and I took her out to the park to feed the ducks; just mommy, daddy, and she! I think we are going to try to make this a tradition as often as possible for our kids, once every year having mom and dad all to yourself? Rosie could hardly believe it. It was a really nice time, though we probably looked like 'helicopter parents'. Doting on her the whole time:) She just babbled on and on and insisted we both do everything with her.
Rosalie continues to delight us with her charm, kind spirit, silly sense of humour, and easy-going attitude. she just moved to her OWN room and will soon graduate to a big girl bed. She loves to play pretend (a dump-truck and a toy cow become 'mommy and baby'), sing, dance, be tickled, have books read to her as well as looking through them by herself, she loves playing in the sandbox, she still just loves to draw, circles, lines, suns, you name it! Rosalie cares for everyone and everything and is truly delightful to be with.
So here's to a child who is joyful and clever, happy day, happy year, happy always and ever!

This looks adorable, but really Isaac is saying 'Pleaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaase Rosie give me a BITE"

#85- Cottage weekend '13!

Our dear friends Titus and Rachel once again invited us to their family cottage this past weekend.
Unfortunately, they weren't able to make it till Saturday, but it was really for the best since with all the excitement of arriving and unpacking, no naps on the way there (2 hour drive), and new sights, sounds and smells, the kids needed to unwind. 
Isaac was over the moon till dinner time where, after I brought out a plate of crackers, veggies, meat and cheese for everyone to share, Eric went for the last couple pieces of meat (Isaac had downed the rest) and Isaac simply LOST it, it took him nearly 45 minutes to calm down. (and a few slices of watermelon)
I haven't seen a tantrum like that in ages!
This year we slept in the cottage instead of the tent, which was nice, but took me down a couple notches from my prideful 'tenting is the way to go!' approach.

The beach and a playground were but minutes walking distance away so there was so much to do! Also they had recently purchased a Sea-do (or whatever you call it) so we had some fun with that, though Isaac was not partial to tubing and Rosalie wouldn't go near it, she would stand at the edge of the lake and call to us, "I will save you, hold my hand, hold my hand!|
Oliver was just chill about everything, chilled on the beach, chilled in the water, (he loved it!) chilled in the cottage, slept at bedtime, aaaah....

So we did just about everything there is to do on a cottage vacation, here are some pictures for further story-telling!
Also, we cleaned the house before we left, I made everyone stay outside before jumping in the car to get the last few crumbs and toys out of sight too, it was a little stressful trying to get a clean house on top of packing and not forgetting everything, but oh gracious, it is SUCH a good feeling to come home to a clean house, no dishes, nothing laying around, laundry done. Ah. Worth it.

#84- A place to call...

Upon a recent visit to visit Eric's family up north, we stopped by at Chesley Lake, a family campground that my family has been going to for over 40 years. Some of my family members still go every year, I have not cottaged there since I was a young teenager, and last time I popped by was over 2 years ago.
This time around, with my own children and my cousins children racing around the lake front, my grandfathers sitting smiling under the shade of the tree, the golf carts rolling by, the sound of singing coming from the chapel, I had the overwhelming feeling of being at home. Along with the heavy bittersweetness of days gone by.

Over the course of my life I have moved more times than I can even stop to remember. With my family, on my own. I have been able to easily adapt to any surroundings (and climates!) and have never thought twice about it affecting me, for as they say, home is where your loved ones are.

While this is true, I  never really realized the significance of a timeless, consistent place in my life. We spent 1 week every year of my life at Chesley Lake. And more than almost anywhere else, this place always brings such joy to me, such a feeling of relief and comfort. I instinctively want to run to the tuck shop and buy a mars bar (a personal tradition of mine), jump into a canoe and go fishing in the wee hours of the morning for rainbow fish, flop down on the couch at the cottage and read for the millionth time the Chesley Lake History book, feel the rush of wind on the swing-set, start hunting for my older cousins, sisters, and their friends to spy on, take a walk with my grandma to go visit someone she knows down the lane, stopping every once in awhile to eat a wild rasberry she shows me.
My personal secret favourite; read the last page of the books in the tuck shop that all end with a kiss, swim to the dock and jumpy off a million times, play t-ball and show all the boys that I've got what it takes to be on their team, laugh at my uncles antics and my grandpa's muttered puns, wake up to the smell of someone in the kitchen making coffee, and tiptoe over the mattresses of my sleeping cousins and siblings, because why sleep in when there's so much of nothing to do all day!?

Times that have come and gone. I have no regrets of having moved so much, in fact, I still feel it in me the thrill of change, and can't even imagine staying in one place for more than 10 years, and yes, no matter where we go it is our family and friends that make it home, but I think there is something necessary and profound about a place we feel at home. A place to reflect on wonderful memories, meanings and meanderings of life, the tough times, the consistency...
People and circumstances change. I won't hear my grandma and my cousin Heidi laughing on the porch again, even if I were to try and recreate the experience. Some family members have left, being replaced with new ones, some are new ones altogether, and altogether wonderful to see the tradition continue.

I don't have anything profound or life changing to close; only that I think I want to give my children a place like this, to help them remember who they are, what they're made of, where they've come from and what they've learned. In feeling this nostalgia, I am renewed to face forward again and carry on with my family and the adventures that await.

#83- Little moments like this

We'd had a particularly rocky week with me losing my cool a lot more often than I care to admit and quite a few bedtime battles. But tonight I had made an extra effort to be kind, calm, and quiet for the bedtime routine. I only had to go back in the room once after I put them down.

After drinking half the tub of water that night at bath-time, Isaac wet the bed a few hours after he fell asleep.
I had gone in to put a blanket on Rosalie, and Isaac, barely conscious, mumbled he needed new PJ's.

I pulled off his sheet and bottoms and helped him stand up to put new ones on, all in the quiet, dim room he wrapped his arms around my neck and said in a sleepy, sincere whisper "I love you, mama."

After all the glares and yelling and defiance and frustration and tiredness and lost cool.... we all sleep better knowing this at the end of the day. 

Especially me.

#82- Oliver, 6 months!

Oh yes he is, the newborn stage is long gone, baby-explorer stage has begun! And what boggles my mind even more is that THIS YEAR he will be ONE YEAR OLD!
My dear Oliver is growing big and tall, and getting more and more wiggly! I think he is just revving up so that once he learns mobility he will be able to catch up to his older siblings even faster. He can sit, pick things up, roll from back to tummy (but has NO interest in rolling, he'll just lie there and kick if I lay him down) he is starting to experience more solids, main faves are carrots and sweet potato!
He is still the most darling snuggler; although with two teeth and many more on the way, most of his snuggles (which always involve grabbing my face) end up giving the receiver a lovely slobber-bath. Mmmm, I'm sure there is science somewhere out there about the skin benefits of baby drool!
With the teething and growth spurt, his nights are a little more rocky than usual (this is my boy who was sleeping through the night at 6 weeks) and I'm often up with him at least 2 or 3 times. And I know I can't complain! As well he is a little more irritable than usual during the day. But overall, he is a cheerful little observer who loves being held wiggling away slobbering and watching his sibs. He still loves me the MOST, (heehee) but has a huge liking towards Isaac as well as increasingly starting to move over to the DAD SIDE.
The next 6 months are going to be full of exciting new things for this little guy! Can't wait! (actually. I can wait...)

Basically the same size as Rosalie!

Couldn't be more opposite, but the best buds:)