Celebrating {part 1}

She is two now. For the first time since becoming parents we have a 2 year old and no new babies in sight, so we can fully appreciate and notice this age. She is a handful, always wanting to do everything herself, and I mean EVERYTHING. She is quite independent, that one. Which often results in tears. Either our tears of joy and frustration, or hers, because she can't manage to do her own carseat buckles, and we are not willing to wait for another 10 minutes in a hot car. She's also our earliest child to potty learn. Comes with being independent, I guess. Oh, and having 3 older siblings definitely shows. She can stand up for herself and knows how to get what she wants. She loves books, just like her sisters and brother, and often brings the same 10-book stack to you whenever you try to sit down on the couch and relax. She is fun, charming, bossy, rough, bunny-loving 2 year old now. And Joy is her middle name.

(our last minute unofficial birthday celebration at the park. Ivy is a total puppy-hog)

Not your typical Mother's Day post

Mother's Day... Sorry to go all bah-humbug on it, but for some reason I just don't get all that excited about this holiday. I much prefer Women's Day (March 8th) that I grew up celebrating. Mother's Day makes me feel the sadness of all the women who are not mothers but would love to be. I know at church people try their best to phrase things in the way that would help everyone feel included. But what about the rest of the day? Or the weeks before when you see the reminders of the upcoming celebration of mothers everywhere? Don't get me wrong, I think motherhood deserves celebrating, just not by the calendar, not publicly and not commercially. And then there's that enticing hope (maybe it's just me?) that the day should be nearly perfect (or at least much better than any other day day), with children magically transforming overnight into well-behaved offsprings. Well, don't know about others, but the day feels just like any other day to me, complete with fighting, whining, refusing to help, etc. So raising my expectations about the day being special and magical only makes things harder. As depressing as it may sound, it makes my life easier when I remember to lower my expectations and brace myself for the usual roller-coaster ride.

To add to my un-excitement about this holiday, during the first couple of weeks in May I came across a few articles published just in time to heat things up for Mother's Day. Both were geared towards raising a debate over who is better and what kind of mothering is right. And I couldn't help but think, why is everything supposed to be a competiotion? Why does it have to be about who is the smartest, the most loving, the most experienced, etc.? Why can't we just do our best without looking down on those who are not like us? After all, aren't we all unique individuals with unique sets of experiences that shape our lives and influence our choices? I know media is partly to blame for pitting women against each other, making moms (and women in general) argue about which parenting/life style will do most good in our society. Throw in a variety of other issues, mostly aimed at women, and it seems like we are all about competing these days. People get so stuck on proving their point, that they don't stop to think that most of us do our best based on our knowledge, intuition, past experiences and present circumstances. And guess what? It's a learning process for ALL of us. I doubt there is a single person out there who never wished they could go back in time and do certain things differently. That doesn't make us incapable or incompetent. Quite the opposite, it shows that we've learned something and are not afraid to admit that learning comes with mistakes. So why not just accept that we do our best, then shake hands, live and let live?

There, I've said my peace. Now off to the fun part. Our Mother's Day evening was spent with friends, enjoying delicious food and a beautiful walk. Also, it may not sound that enjoyable to us, adults, but kids had a blast playing a cold stream, even if it meant wearing wet clothes for the rest of our walk. They couldn't stop talking about what a fun experience it was for them. I guess we should go there more often!

Saturday afternoon pops

My friend Amy invited us over to taste/test some of the popsicles she made from new recipes. Kids couldn't be more thrilled. Rocket-shaped popsicles on a sunny afternoon, who wouldn't want that? I picked out green smoothie/chia one (or frog eggs, as Amy called it), but wouldn't have minded to have one of each (esp. balsamic vinegar one, such unexpected combination with pretty remarkable flavor). Anya ended up with blueberry popsicle. Blueberry. Popsicle. Yep, she looked like she needed to be hosed off outside before letting her into the house. Amy's porch will bear witness of our popsicle-tasting event for quite some time...

27/06/2011

I'm officially 30. Does it mean that the countdown for 'the rest of my life' has begun? Somehow I didn't discover any magical transformations (butterfly wings, maybe?) on the morning of my birthday, when I got up at 11:30 a.m. (thanks to Mark staying home, taking care of kids and letting me sleep in). Just like Mark said in his post earlier (which was a huge surprise :), I'm simply one day older and I still don't feel all that *grown-up*. Just taking it one day at a time, finding my place, working on my goals, struggling, learning and enjoying this little life I have.

I had a beautiful day with my friends and family. Mark was home all day and only worked while Ivy was taking a nap. Then, in my typical spontaneous fashion, I decided to have some friends over for ice-cream. I'm all for other people planning ahead, making invitations and having well-organized parties. But when it comes to our own, low-key is my mantra. No gifts, no birthday cakes, just people we love and enjoy spending time with. And that's exactly how we spent our evening, chatting away, with babies crawling around, kids running and playing games, slapping mosquitoes and meeting new friends, long after the sun went down.

(huge thanks to Katrina, who picked up my abandoned camera and took most of the photos. I was too busy enjoying everyone's company :)

(this was taken when it was pretty dark outside, my poor old Nikon did the best it could at ISO 500)

Annie the Warrior (with running injury no less), being her usual gorgeous self, crutches and all. And her little boy with a pair of matching mini-crutches nearly made me fall over when I saw them walking into our backyard.

looks like Anya was showing off her new mosquito bites here...

yes, there's always a child or two swarming around my lap, looking for a sweet spot to land on. If that's not love, then I don't know what it is.

simple things

Last week I felt like celebrating. Nothing in particular, maybe just the fact that I was finally feeling better. So I put my makeup and running clothes on (yes, I felt like doing it), and asked Ivy if she would join me for a few fancy shots with our Mac's PhotoBooth. She said she had better things to do (not really), but she could probably find a few minutes to pose with me in front of the computer if I promised her a snack at the end. Deal. All the blurry shots aside (that girl won't sit still when there's some huge shiny screen in front of her. what's up with that?), we ended up with this one as a winner, just before she decided to go for my nose with her untrimmed claws.

Next day it was Sunday. At the beginning of Relief Society meeting at church, there was the usual question if anyone had anything exciting happen that week. I almost raised my hand. Almost. And I kept wanting to raise my hand for the next 5 minutes. Always stopping at *almost*. The thing is, I couldn't really pinpoint in my head what was so exciting that happened that week. Nobody in our family got married, or had a birthday party, or had a new baby. Yet, for some reason I felt like I could be that person with a raised hand.

I kept thinking about it, and realized that while nothing big happened to rock my world that week, it was full of small simple things that, when added up, could beat any 'big' event. Planting our tiny garden, how could I forget that. Maya learning to play new songs on the piano. Elijah and Anya expanding their singing repertoire. Feeling better and finally going for a run after a week of couch life (even if said run didn't go all that well. at least I came home with a bunch of vintage buttons. long story...) I am sure there were many other moments which I can't even remember now (should've written about it a week ago, right?). And even though it's easy to underestimate their power, I can't deny the amount of joy they bring into my daily life, leaving me overwhelmingly grateful for each day I get to spend with my loved ones.

Later that Sunday we went for a walk around the neighbourhood. I saw this house with all its colors, and it made me smile (and obviously, stop and take this picture).

We stopped to visit our friends, who are old enough to be our grandparents. What a blessing this friendship is for us. And it comes with free rhubarb.

We got plenty, more than we needed. So we shared some with a sweet lady who was kind enough to give us some irises and a peony (oh how I love peonies) from her garden.

On our way home, I was admiring this tree. It just seemed like this was perfect time and a perfect place for it.

Mark was sporting his new haircut from the night before, and it was no small feat. He only gets his hair cut once every three months. Partly because we can't find time to cut his hair more often (only in the evenings and only when all 4 kids are asleep at the same time for at least an hour), partly because I like it when his hair gets all shaggy.

And while we are on a subject of haircuts, Elijah finally got his fringe trimmed. That very morning, right at the kitchen table after he finished eating his oatmeal. I missed seeing his bright eyes.

Anya was being her usual self, walking with my hand in hers, only letting go to pet a kitty.

(yes, mosquitoes love her too)

And to make our evening walk complete, we found some beautiful poppies growing not far from our house.

Like I said, it's all about simple things...