Classic Chickens

I have this odd love/hate fascination with chickens. I wonder how much is Gonzo and Camilla's fault?

From humming birds to honey bees

Liam had his 8th school fair today.  They hold 2 fairs a year to showcase their work for each term.  The fairs always include a costume, songs, reenactments and displays of all that they have learned on their topic.

So far Liam has studied:

• Hummingbirds - Littles 2006
• Spaceships - Littles 2007
• The Titanic - Rising 5's 2007
• Bioluminescent ocean creatures - Rising 5's 2008
• Nova Scotia weather - Youngs 2008
• The effect of our environment on endangered species - Youngs 2009
• The human body - Middles 2009
• Honey bees - Middles 2010

He has grown so much in the past 4 years.  I can't get over how little he looks with his hummingbird beak offering me nectar to taste.  Next year the school's theme is "the world of work".  I can't wait to see what we get to learn next!

Random thoughts

There seems to be so much going on these days!!  Here are some random thoughts that are rattling around in my head:

1. There's only 3 weeks of school left!  I can't believe that Liam will be finished grade one and on his way to grade two.  Or as they call it at his school - he will be an "old middle"
2. Liam will be 8!! this summer.  Where did the time go?  8 years ago  we first found out about the possibility of becoming parents mere months later.  So much has happened since then.
3. Work is impossibly busy.
4. We leave for vacation in 3 weeks!  We are off to Sechelt to visit Hilary's family.  I'm excited about the trip but the travel time and subsequent jet lag is something I could do without.
5. I'm organizing a yard sale for the school on June 5th.  It seemed easy enough till I started figuring out everything that needs to be done!  At least my attic will have some more space in it on June 6th
6. For the first time ever I hired someone to cut our grass.  He was wandering the neighbourhood knocking on doors, the price was great and I have way too much to do.  So I figured why not? He did a great job so I told him to come back in 2 weeks.  I feel quite decadent.

And the biggest one?  I just let Liam (age 7 3/4) and a friend (age 9) walk to the school by themselves armed with water and snacks so that they can play at the playground.  I may have to follow them to just make sure they are okay.  Don't tell Liam though, okay?  The walk is easy and one we do every day.  It's 2 side streets but they do have to cross a main road at a cross walk that leads right into the schools driveway.  I'm sure they are fine, but this is a hard milestone for a Mama!!

I just don't get it

Hilary and I have a new TV show obsession.   I'm equally fascinated and appalled by this show.  It is so far from my reality that I watch it in awe.  I don't understand the people, their motivation or really any of it.  I frequently ask myself (or the TV if it's an episode that really confounds me) "What the Hell are you thinking?"  I could NEVER picture myself engaging in this activity.

What TV show could this possibility be you ask?



Why it's Say Yes to the Dress of course!

Even if Hilary and I were to get married one day, it would NOT be in frilly clothes at some big shin-dig.  It would be us, Liam, our friends Sandy and Jason and a justice of the peace.  In and out.  And Hilary would insist on cooking dinner!

• I don't understand the frill and frou frouness of it all.
• I really don't understand spending thousands of dollars on a dress that you will wear ONCE.
• I don't understand the tears and frustration.
• I really don't understand taking your ENTIRE family shopping with you.
• And why would anyone let their family influence them so much?  If you like the dress, buy it already!  Who cares what your mother, mother-in-law, sister or boss thinks?  (yes one woman brought her boss too)

And yet, Hilary and I continue to watch the show.  We even record new episodes.  It's kinda like watching a train wreck.  You just can't tear your eyes away.

You will be missed

There will be a hole in my heart when I see your space at the table now that you are gone.

Rest in peace Frank, you will be missed.

Perfect Moment Monday

Last year when I was walking to work every day I was on the same schedule as an older gentleman from the neighbourhood who was out walking his dog.  Over time our "relationship" went from a nod and smile as we passed each other on the sidewalk to a casual hello to eventually stopping to chat so that I could pet the dog.  The dog was elderly but loved to be out every day  for her walk. As the winter wore on I noticed that the dog was slowing down and the white around her muzzle wasn't just freshly fallen snow.  And then one day I didn't see them.  I hoped that maybe they were just taking a break, waiting for better weather, but in my heart I knew that the dog had come to the end of her life.

Then I started working from home and didn't take that daily walk anymore.  Whenever I would be on that street I would think of the nice gentleman who's name I never knew, and would wonder how he was getting along.


This week I had to go into the office for a meeting.  And like always I glanced up at their house as I walked by.  Just as I was about to look away the door opened and the gentleman came out, coat and hat on, ready for a walk. He saw me across the street and waved and smiled.  As I waved back he turned to shut the door and out scampered the cutest puppy ever!   I felt a huge smile come over me!  The gentleman (I really need to make a point of finding out his name!) looked so happy that he was almost scampering.  There was too much traffic for me to cross the street to be introduced to this new young pup, so I waved and smiled and kept going.  And all day long I would find myself with a big goofy grin plastered to my face thinking about this nice man and his new puppy.

Do you have a Perfect Moment?  Be sure to check out Weeble's Wobblog for even more Perfect Moments.

Mother's day

My Mother, my Mom, my Grandma, Liam's Mom,  my Mother-In-Law and  my Love.

Today I celebrate them all.

Who are you celebrating today?

Hilary

Hilary is the easiest Mum to write about. I see her in action every day! She is the one that Liam turns to when he is sick. In his eyes she is "Magic Fix It Mummy" who can cure hurts and fix toys. She chases away nightmares and makes the best "transportation style noodles" this side of anywhere. She climbs rocks and let's Liam jump across crevices that other mothers cringe at and can't watch. She loves to snuggle and tickle and read books with him. She's an awesome Mum and I'm so glad that I get to see her in this role every day.

She is my Love.

Rosemary

Mother-in-laws often get a bad rap.  Not mine.  She rocks!  She's the Mum I turn to when I need to vent, when I need advice or when I just want to chat.  She raised Hilary to be the awesome woman that she is today.  She's delightfully weird, she bursts randomly into song and would have loved to have been on Broadway.  She owns grape scissors, and had more advice for us when we got the dog then when we got the kid. She will be the cause of Liam learning to swear before he's 10.  She drives like she still lives in Toronto no matter where she is and she's just fun to be around.

She is my Mother in law.

"K"

The hardest one to write.  The only one I can't post a picture for.  "K" is Liam's Mom.  She's never held him, she has never seen him or talked to him, but to me, and to him, she is still his mother. Liam is the first to tell anyone that he has 3 Mom's.  He has a picture of her on his bedroom wall.  He knows that he gets his blond hair and piercing blue eyes from her.  While she may not be in his life day to day, she is still an important part of it, and always will be.

There are many labels that people may chose to use to describe "K".  To us, she is and will always be Liam's Mom.

Winnie

I grew up spending a lot of time with my Grandma.  I spent my first week with my family at her house and later she nursed me through a week of chicken pox.  We spent nearly every weekend at her house or in the summers, at her trailer.  We made rock soup together and told stories.  She took me swimming in the lake every day.  I woke up Christmas morning snuggled up next to her since we had more people then beds when every one visited.  She wrapped her hair in industrial strength toilet paper every night and let me take out the bobby pins in the morning.  She makes the best "green salad", the only way I will still eat Jell-o.  She still spends every summer at her trailer and lives on her on in her own house the rest of the year. I only get to see her once a year now because we live so far apart, but I think of her every day.

She is my Grandma.

Linda

Linda is also my mother.  She was the one that taught me to ride a bike, who took me to school on the first day and who got me my first perm.  Like a lot of mother-daughter relationships, we've had our ups and our downs, but luckily the ups keep winning.   She's who I call when I'm elbow deep in spaghetti sauce and not sure what to do next.  We did so many things together when I was growing up - skiing, snowshoeing, shopping.   She taught me how to garden (not that it seemed to stick with me!) and how to iron my clothes.  

She is my Mom.

Iris

Each day this week leading up to Mother's day I will pay tribute to one of the Mother's in my life.

---

Iris is where I began. She is my mother. I didn't get to meet her, or even know her name until I was in my 30s, but she was always someone I thought about. Having her in my life now, albeit in a very limited way, is important to me.  Her past and her story is my past and entwined with my story.  Shortly after we were reunited she dug out a family tree project that she had done, added me to the line after her entry and sent it to me.  It is one of my treasured possessions.  They may only be names on a piece of paper but they are the history of my mother's family.

She is, was and will always be my mother.

Going back on my word

Back in February I was pretty adamant that I would NEVER read the book Three Weeks to Say Goodbye by C.J. Box

Well, never say never!  I just finished it this morning.  We were at Chapters a few weeks ago and the book was on sale and displayed at the end of an aisle that I was checking out.  Something drew me to it, and hey, who can pass up a cheap book?

I was pleasantly surprised by it.  It was an easy, quick read, with a few great plot twists that I didn't see coming.  Yes, adoption plays a roll in it by giving it the basis of the story line - the birthfather never signed away his rights and now is coming to take the baby back from the adoptive parents, but adoption is not the focus of the book.

I would definitely not  recommend any potential adoptive parents read it!  While the story line is plausible (at least the adoption part, some of the rest gets kinda crazy), if adoption agencies are doing their job and dotting all their i's and crossing their t's, this type of situation should be pretty rare.  But it can happen.


As for everyone else, it's a good mystery, it's got some violence and gore in it, so if you don't like that stuff I would skip it.   Overall though, I would rate it worth the read.