Cherry Blossoms in Calgary!

Finally! After reading about spring on everyone else's blog it's here - Cherry Blossoms are out full-force now! Also in the forecast, snow, but let's focus on the cherry blossoms, shall we?

I don't even know where to start, there's so much been going on.

First of all, we managed to survive relatively unscathed the birthday/recital week. A busy week flanked by 2 weekends of mayhem - running this way and that getting people places they needed to be. Survived it even with kids being miserably ill. Last weekend, in particular was the worst - the baby screamed for two days and two nights while I held her. She screamed harder if I put her down, like to go to the bathroom, heaven forbid. Dearest husband is still sooo sick - I keep phoning him from work just to make him run up the stairs - I'm that mean, yes.

I always have to keep myself from laughing TOo hard at little kids' dance recitals. It's not graceful or coordinated at all. But cute - at least they have that going for them.

For the big kid's 5th birthday we went to a honey farm. Good fun. Bees are so interesting. Everyone got A. lego. It seems we should have communicated with eachother a little... But the lego is getting plenty of use, so who's to complain? I forgot how much fun lego is.

No news on the business front. I haven't had any time to craft anything lately as ferrying people all over and dealing with sick people has all but eaten up all my time. I have tomorrow off and am planning to spend the whole day sewing new barrettes. crossing fingers!

And now back to work which is mayhem, too!

Don’t Chew Gum Outside, People!

Serious Consequences Could Ensue!

My 5 yr old and I were having a chat last night. She wanted to warn me about chewing gum outside.

“You should never chew gum outside.”

“Oh, why?”

“Because a big animal will come up and hit you in the stomach and knock you over.”

“Really? Did you see that happen?”

“It was on TV” She was serious.

Apparently there’s a pretty dramatic commercial on TV where a guy gets hit in the groin by a ram and spits out his gum. All the guys I tell this to know exactly what I am talking about. We don’t watch much TV, and she’s only 5 so she really thought this might happen. She was worried about big animals lurking behind the bushes, apparently, watching for gum chewers.

I told her that sometimes what you see on TV isn’t real – it’s just a joke. I said I had never seen that happen and didn’t expect to see that kind of thing. I think gum chewing in the out of doors is pretty safe. We both agreed that it would be pretty weird. I wonder what other things she believes that she got from unreliable sources.

We had a conversation last year about commercials – she thought they were shows, too. So we had to have a chat about how they are trying to get you to buy something. Of course, it all looks like great stuff, and she wants it all. She even said that one day: “I see lots of cool stuff they are trying to sell me on TV and I want to buy it all!” I think that was before Christmas. So, we’ve had some beginning conversations about things not always being as great as they make them seem on TV, and how Stuff won’t necessarily make you happier (she doesn’t quite believe me), and about we can’t buy EVERYTHING we want. Phewph. What must it be like to not know this stuff yet – to take the world at face value?

This is the one with all the pictures

This was supposed to be the post with all the pictures of all the fun stuff we've done lately but not blogged about because it needed pictures. Well, I finally got to sit down at the computer this weekend for a couple of minutes and downloaded these couple of pictures. Meanwhile youngest angel daughter unrolled a whole roll of cherry flavoured dental floss and elder angel daughter got into the bottom drawer of her dresser and toppled the whole thing over on top of herself. But at least I got my pictures. See what lenghts I go through? The rest of the pictures will have to wait until I get more dental floss.

These first ones are the dolls I made for Christmas for DD's dollhouse. She was suitably impressed. I made them all on my lunchhours at work from stuff I already had (or scammed off of other people).


This one is the princess. DD was all into princesses this year (yes, she's 4 and a girl and her favourite color is pink. surprised?)

This one is the baby. It might be hard to tell, but they all have streaks of white hair just like my girls and their dad. I was proud of the brown hair on the baby- I found that piece on the floor in my office. I know not everyone would think that is cool.

I decided I want to be the redhead.

This is a shirt that I painted for my brother in law for Christmas. He's a computer guy. I hope he actually wears it someday...

And this is the shirt that I painted for another brother in law. He's a comic collector. As an aside, I learned a valuable lesson with this project - stain resistant means paint resistant also.

There's a third shirt in the series that I don't think I got a picture of. It is for the third brother in law. It is a windshield with a bug smooshed on it (sewed on wool bits), and the tag says one one side: "sometimes you're the windshield" on the other side: "sometimes you're the bug"

My thumb was sore yesterday from embroidering, so it can't have been that bad of a weekend, right? Sometimes I get caught up in the disappointment of all the stuff I'd like to do but can't. This post is to remind me that we have done an awful lot of cool things lately. There are several times more pictures back home on the harddrive that didn't make it into this post. Like the morning we had stewed blueberries for breakfast, the birdhouses, several more shirt paintings. We're just not as well documented as some people, but it doesn't mean the richness isn't there. Sometimes I have to remind myself.

Sometimes you just need to take a deep breath.

Take the other morning for example.
I am trying to leave the house for work early in the morning on one of those really cold days. You know the kind. Where you just want to shrink down into your parka like a turtle into it’s shell.

Eldest Daughter is starting to loose it. “Mommy, I will sure miss you when you’re gone. Mommy, you know why I’ll miss you? Because you’re not here.” And then the tears start and the lower lip gets all puffy and we start the 10 minutes of hugs at the door. “ok, last hug, mommy has to go.” “ok, last hug, daddy is waiting” and I’m inching closer to the door. By the time she starts really sobbing I have one foot out the door and cold air is swirling around us. She is begging for “one more hug”. She pleads “Mommy, make me feel better mommy” and she’s frantic now and I say “I don’t think I can make you feel better sweetie” and now she is blubbering and I have top make her repeat it twice “Make me take a deep breath, Mommy”.
OK, this is different, I think. So I bend over in the doorway, cold air rushing around us and hold her in my arms and tell her to breath deep and we stay in the doorway, breathing deeply together for a minute until she’s calm enough to finally let go. And I move out the door into the world and she retreats back into the house to have breakfast in her pyjamas.

1 spoon and 1 plate and 1 cup and 1 fork

Kids are so funny with their Christmas requests. Last year A. wanted a dollhouse, and she got it. But the ponies don’t fit on the furniture so this year she is asking for a doll for the dollhouse. Just one. I think she thinks she is more likely to get it if she only asks for one. And she wants 1 spoon and 1 plate and 1 cup and 1 fork. I told her that I had looked in the stores and couldn’t find any of those so she might not get it for Christmas. She told me that was ok, she wanted Santa to get it for her.
Well, I found it today – whole miniature placesettings, and yes, I splurged and got a whole set for 4. (They came in the box together.) There is even a turkey and a cheese tray and a miniature jellyroll. Then I spied the toilet and my heart skipped a beat – a Toilet! I’m not sure who designed the original dollhouse, but they forgot the toilet. It was missed immediately. This is a big deal. Where are the dolls supposed to go to the bathroom? There were three lamps and a wardrobe and even a footstool, but no toilet. Hmmm…..anyone who’s spent any time at all with preschoolers knows that toilets are very important.

Oh, I know all this miniature stuff is bound to be lost in a day or two, and I’m hoping none of it gets ingested by baby sister, but now the dollhouse will be complete – after I finish all the dolls, that is! I’ve come upon a stumbling block with the dolls – teeny tiny clothes are very hard to make. You basically have to sew them on. So I am getting creative and everyone’s wearing wool sweaters and tights. At least the hair is going well except that I don’t have any brown yarn so everyone either has blond, orange or white hair (I’m skipping green). Works for me, my kids have bits of white anyway, so I’m hoping to pretend I meant it that way. They’re an eclectic crew, and I promise to take (and post) a picture when they’re all done - probably Christmas Eve knowing me (pressure-prompted, anyone?).

Now I just have to figure out how to make a princess dress with yarn and embroidery floss. Wish me luck.

Oh, I wish I had time to blog all the stuff I am thinking of!

Christmas is coming and I have, once again, committed to making too many gifts. I just can't stand buying something ho hum when I can make something I'm really happy about giving. Nothing this year is as complicated as the birdhouses we constructed last year. I did learn from that. Of course, I don't think an unplanned birth will mess up the production schedule as it did last year (Can you believe it's almost been a whole year?!). I hope everyone likes what they're getting. Nothing is very big and it's all a little quirky and full of heart. I tried to stick to stuff I know how to do like painting and stuff that doesn't need to be perfect - like ugly dolls.

Also related to Christmas I wanted to post about lessons we're learning about advertising and buying stuff. Being 4 makes one so much more aware of the world. I'll blog about this later. Because it's ongoing and completely appropriate for the upcoming holidays.

Also on the list to blog about:
toothy babies that I miss so much,
a wonderful nanny,
(pink and sparkly) good times shopping with a preschooler,
other blogs I read whose lives I want to copy,
bento goodness,
and a rant asking people to stop asking if I'm glad to be back at work


And since no one in real life seems to be discussing it, what the heck is going on with Canadian politics?? I picked a fine year to start voting, let me tell ya. I can't stand politics at the best of times, and now they're talking about a Frankenstein-type coalition coup. I've heard pretty big rhetoric from both sides and am worried about our politics degenerating to one big squabbling match and power grab. That's certainly not what I voted for. I don't think that's what anybody voted for.

Bendy Dolls!

OK, you asked!

A. randomly commented the other day that she needs dolls for her doll house. I thought she was having fun playing with her ponies there but apparently they are too big for the bed so it doesn't really work. So I looked up dolls on etsy and found these bendy dolls. Then I found a tutorial on making them yourself, and voila, now I have something to do every lunchhour between now and Christmas. Here are more examples of finished dolls, and I couldn't resist bookmarking these pirates.

Mine don't have feet. I'm trying to do it without buying much extra materials. I figure I have lots of craft stuff at home to use (even though we purged a lot...doh!). (More on this these another time, I'm trying to retrain myself into using what we have rather than buying the solution to our problems. Like I said, more later.) I did buy some pink fabric and wooden heads, though. I didn't have any fabric that's pink and that's A's favourite color right now.

I just put a head on the doll that I made last week and it didn't fit! I think if I don't wrap the neck all the way up the head will fit. He needs clothes. He'll look better clothed. Then you won't notice how odd his body is....oh, they're going to look pretty eclectic! The green fuzz of the pipecleaner sticks through a bit. I may have to wrap him again... maybe striped legs...
Oh what fun. I'd like to make a boy, a girl, a kid and a baby for sure (you know, our family). Then, if there's time I'll add a pirate and a fairy and maybe some aunts or gramas. (And maybe another baby, har har) I have some lovely white wool so someone's going to have white hair.

And this is what I am thinking of making for R. (now 10 months old):
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=13879490
Should be easy enough as it's random. I'll sew on eyes instead of using buttons so she doesn't chew them off with those razor teeth and swallow them. She would so that.

We'll see if I have enough time for all the projects I'd like to do!

Bad Mother of The Year Award

Yes, officially, I am the Bad Mother of the Year.
At least according to the people at the coffee shop yesterday.
Now, I've not wanted to blog about potty training because I know my 2 readers probably aren't interested in more talk about poop. One because he's had enough converations about poop to last a lifetime, the other because she hasn't had those conversations yet, and still might decide to have kids one day if we don't scare her off first. But (sadly) the topic bodily functions keeps coming up in our household, so here goes.
Yes, I might be the Worst Mother Ever. That's what the teenege girls who man the coffee shop thought as I nonchalantly conversed with a friend as my eldest daughter bellowed from the bathroom. They seemed genuinely concerned that someone had left their child alone in the bathroom in obvious disstress.
"I was waiting for her to ASK for help" I said as I brushed by them on the way to Rescue.
"One day You'll understand".
Indeed, one day their kid will probably stick out their tongue and say something like "I don't want to be your friend anymore", to which you will say "ok", and walk away, and wait until they decide they need you again. You will wait until they really want it and are yelling loudly. And you'll ge the Bad Parent Award, too.

"I'm on time-out." "And I'm ready to talk about it."

"I'm on time-out." "And I'm ready to talk about it."

I had just gotten out of the shower and was checking on my daughter who had been playing downstairs but was now sitting rather formally on the edge of her bed. I quickly realized we were playing "I'm the Kid and you're the Mom". Sometimes she tells me ahead of time and sometimes not.

So I sat down beside her.
"Why are you on time-out"

"I used up all the lipstick"
Maybe she wasn't playing after all.

"Oh Ya?"
"Ya. I goed like this," (motions with finger) "and it's all gone"
"Is there a mess?" I'm trying to decide how to react.
"No" I look at her lips. Her entire chin and lip area is very shiny. I can't figure out exactly where the ENTIRE tube of lipbalm has gone, but I trust her when she says there's no mess.

We decide that she can come out of her time-out whenever she's ready, as it was self-imposed anyway. She wants to go to the store and get more lipstick. I tell her you get it from the healthfood store and she'll have to wait until we go there again before she gets more. That's the consequence of using all the lipbalm. You don't get anymore for a while.

And I put off my trip to the heallthfood store for a couple of days.

cut cut cut....how babies are born

I'm 6 and a half months pregnant. Looking like I'm trying to smuggle a medium-sized watermelon out of the grocery store. Waddling.
DD is 3 1/2. Her experience with birth is limited. We're educating her in small pieces as stuff comes up. She knows that she was born in a hospital and the doctor cut her out. She even knows that babies are supposed to be "upside down" and that she wasn't. Some stuff sticks in her brain and some doesn't. That's the way it is with 3 year olds.

She was playing "pregnant" the other day. She lay on her back with a toy under her pj's and started saying "cut cut cut" making scissor motions at her belly, and then out popped the baby! She ran over to me all excited. "Mom, I had a baby and I didn't yell or anything!"

I was horrified and floored with laughter all at the same time.

So we had a chat about how it's ok to yell when you have a baby, and that mommy will probably yell. And lots of times you don't need to cut to get the baby out, you just push them out.

So she tried again. She layed on her back again with the toy under her pj's. "push push push."
I thought - so what if she's on her back, not the optimal birth position, at least she's not cutting.
Then she continued: "cut cut cut" "push push push"

ok, so there's obviously a little more education to do. Good thing we've got another 3 months or so to go. I can't decide if this is better than when she thought babies just "popped out", and told me that mine would, too. That sounded pretty good, actually, though a little utopian.

You just need a good doctor...

My mom is always trying to convince me to convert over to her doctor. She just loves him. He takes good care of her. I am thankful for that.

So she told me, not long ago, that her doctor's office had openings again. And really, midwives are expensive, all I need is to find a really good doctor.

I can't remember how I responded. Somehow just shrugged it off and moved on. She doesn't get it yet. I couldn't think how to start explaining the difference between the medical model and the midwiffery model of care.

Mom, do you remember the reams of doctors I went to as a kid and they tried this medicine and that medicine, and nothing really helped; I just got better on my own. Then when I was a teenager plagued with headaches. The first medicine made me an insomniac so I had headaches from lack of sleep. When i talked to the doctor about it he said he'd proscribe something different. We had a good chat about how I wanted to know what was wrong (treat the problem instead of the symptoms) and he wasn't interested in that. And mom, that WAS your doctor that you love so much to this day. And the headaches went away on their own. Because, by then, I'd had enough of doctors. And the asthma - that went away on it's own, too.

Of course, when I was pregnant with little a., well, of course you need a doctor for that! And look how much good that did me. Unnecessary surgical removal. I know that's a harsh way to say it, but it gets at the truth of what happened.

So, do you think I'm going to the doctor with this pregnancy??!? I'm not sick!! A doctor will look at me as someone with a condition to be managed. A midwife sees a person going through a stage of life.

Oh, ya, and for anyone still thinking about talking me into going to the hospital for the birth-
Ummmm, I'll let ya know when I'm sick, then you can cart me in on a stretcher.