Boompha ball. Rules: swing a soft ball around to hit small kids running by, each time yelling “Boompha!” The entertainment level for toddlers is right up there with chasing them when they say “don’t chase me”. Oh, and don’t expect them to try and avoid the ball. That would reduce the fun factor.
A dog on a beach – possibly the only thing that makes a better photo than kids on a beach.
Kids…running…on a beach. Three ingredients for a fun photo.
This ceiling fan is in our brand new master bedroom. It took me a long time to choose this fan. Just one more of those things that I didn’t think about before we began the renovation – selecting ceiling fans. But it works beautifully and I think it looks very cool.
One of the best things about having a baby is being able to attend Mommy Matinees at a local theatre. What is that, you say? Mommy Matinees are movies shown for mothers AND their babies in the middle of the day and conveniently timed around naptime. Oh, and the theatre also serves pizza (ahem and alcohol) that you can eat WHILE WATCHING THE MOVIE.
Now anyone can attend these movie sessions but you need to be prepared to listen to babies crying. This is a full tolerance movie experience. And believe me when I say that it’s surprisingly easy to block out the sound of other kids crying when seeing a movie in an actual movie theatre is a rare event.
The only downside to the Mommy Matinee is that there is only one theatre which means only one choice of movie each week. The upside to this is that I get to see some good movies that I probably would have never chosen to see on my own. This movie for example, was a pleasant surprise and I highly recommend it.
The downside is that sometimes the movie is HORRIBLE but you watch it anyway, just for that two hours of escape. This week I escaped to a VERY BAD place. It certainly doesn’t bode well when the guy selling you the ticket warns you that it is a terrible movie before you even walk through the door. I think my response was “oh well, at least I’m out of the house”.
The movie this week was THE HAPPENING by M Knight Shyamalan. This is the same guy who wrote and directed The Sixth Sense, one of my all time favourite movies, which makes this one sting just a little bit more.
The Happening was awful! From the very first scene I remember thinking to myself about how awful the acting was (sorry Mark Wahlberg, but I guess you didn’t have much to work with). The writing was also terrible and don’t even get me started on the storyline. Basically it was an excuse for the writer/director to creatively think of a hundred different ways that a person can kill themselves. It’s a little gory in parts and definitely disturbing but not enough to carry a movie. The message (how urban sprawl is killing the environment) is not subtly shared – in fact it’s as subtle as someone beating you over the head with a mallet. And just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, the sound boom peeked down from the top of the screen. More than once!
OK, rant over. Consider this your community service announcement for the day.
Samuel is a good sleeper. He’s not sleeping through the night yet but he DOES sleep in his own bed and he usually goes down at around 9pm each night without much trouble. This is completely different from our experience with Thomas. I’m not sure if it’s a personality thing or if we are just doing things better the second time around. Each night I give Samuel a bath at around 8:30, swaddle him in the MIracle Blanket and then put him down in the crib. Sometimes he cries a little, but it usually doesn’t take long before he’s asleep for at least a full 4 hours.
By the way – I ran a photo action on this image and I’m not sure if I like it. It’s supposed to be artsy and old-fashioned but I’m afraid it makes him look a little washed out.
What’s summer without a water photo? We had our yard cleaned up and it has never looked so good. The hedges are pruned, lawn mowed and edges trimmed. So I had the urge to water the lawn in an attempt to bring it back from the brown straw that it has become over the last month or so. At least it’s tidy, short straw thanks to the clean up job.
I took this photo because I loved the light coming in through our bathroom window. Thomas was supposed to be getting ready for daycare but I’m not exactly sure what he was doing instead. Good photo opp though…
The internet is an amazing thing. I can read about the lives of strangers who live far across the world with incredibly ordinary yet strangely interesting things to say about love and family and happiness and…loss. It seems that in the past few months I have come across a number of blogs written by women with young families who have experienced a loss I fear most… the loss of a child. Reading these blogs makes me feel so many things – awe at the strength of these parents, absolute sadness that makes me want to cry and completely and utterly thankful for my own situation. It also makes me aware of how quickly things can change and how grateful I must be for every moment when my boys are happy and healthy and developing normally.
I am grateful for the miracle of breastfeeding. That I can nourish my child and that he is thriving on that nourishment.
I am grateful for the fact that I can hold my boys and cuddle them and kiss them – because I know many parents don’t immediately have this opportunity, if at all.
I am grateful that I can change their diapers (can’t believe I just put that in writing).
I am grateful for the little miracles that I experience every day. When Samuel coos and smiles, when Thomas uses a new word or recognizes his own name written on a piece of paper.
I am grateful that they are here.
I have a friend. She is 44 years old and trying to have a second child after many years of infertility. Her first pregnancy was a true miracle through IVF. A few days ago her husband was telling us about their visits to the fertility doctor. The doctor told them that they had a 2% chance of getting pregnant. The irony, he said, was that when he was young he saw that 2% risk warning on a box of condoms as a risk worth taking and that his chances of getting a girl pregnant were very low. Now he sees 2% as a glimmer of hope. 2% means it CAN happen. That for every 100 couples of their age with fertility problems, 2 of them will get pregnant.
When I was pregnant with Samuel decided to have a test that would provide us with a probablity that he would be born with Downs Syndrome. We took the same test with Thomas and the results were comforting – a 1 in 700 chance which set our minds at ease. With Samuel the results were not comforting – a 1 in 100 chance. For me that meant that for every 100 couples who got this result, one couple would have child with Downs. I found that oddly comforting. The odds were in our favour. Yet I had this strange ache in the depths of my heart for that one couple who had to have child with problems so that the statistics would support our dream of a healthy child.
Yet I have another friend who has a friend with Downs Syndrome and one day she said to me “you don’t know what it is to reach a milestone until you have worked and worked for months to achieve it. Nothing beats that feeling.”
So today I am going to remain grateful for every day that my family is happy and healthy and here. Cautiously grateful… because I am all too aware that fate could choose to swoop in and mess with the delicate balance of life. I only hope that if it were to happen, that I would have as much honesty and
Today I am feeling truly inspired.
Sunday – Time to pack up and go home. But not before some more fun.
Climbing Trees and growling like a lion.
Eating chocolate bananas. A throwback to my childhood camping days. I suppose this is the Aussie version of s’mores (and SO much better).
To make these, simply cut a slit in a banana. Do not cut the whole way through the banana, just enough to make an opening where you can insert little pieces of chocolate (in this case Trader Joe’s belgiun chocolate bars – yum!). Wrap the banana in foil and then put it on some coals in the fire. (It’s important to put the banana on coals. If you put it in the flames the chocolate will burn). Leave it for about 7 or 8 minutes and then take it out and open up the foil. The chocolate should have melted and the banana will be all mushy so you can mix it together. It should look something like this.
Eat it up with a spoon and enjoy! These were a huge hit with the adults and the kids and is set to become a new camping tradition.
One last visit to the beach and time to make sand candles with Deek (sounds like a children’s TV show). To make these we dug a hole in the sand, hung a wick in the hole – tied to a stick to hold it in place, and then filled it with hot wax (which Deek melted over a portable stove). Then we waited for the wax to cool and dug the candle out of the sand. I think we may have a candle lighting ceremony tonight. 🙂 Some challenges to consider when doing this with toddlers: don’t dig the holes too early before the wax has melted because the temptation to fill in the hole is VERY strong. Create a protective barrier of parents around the hot wax holes to prevent any wax-related injuries.
And most importantly…Keep the kids occupied while the wax cools…
…By hitting them with a large ball. They LOVE it!
And then running around with them on your back. But not sure I would recommend doing this when you are 6 months pregnant (Chris – I am talking to you!).
And just sitting around enjoying the sunshine while the freezing cold wind whips at your face. The dog’s name is Foster. He is so beautiful and gentle that it almost made me want to get a dog. Almost.
Then we headed back to camp for the final cleanup before heading home.
Other Observations from the day.
I feel like I was away for a month instead of just a few days (and the laundry pile supports that). As hard as it is camping with two small children (especially at bedtime), it was worth just a few days to get away from it all, spend some quality time with family and good friends and come back to the city feeling a little refreshed.
Nicole Ishida Photography 