(right now) I am...

I've posted once this year. ONCE. 

And only seven times since we moved back to Canada in August. Seven times in seven months. And while I'm struck by the lovely symmetry -lucky seven and all that- perhaps I'll draw from that completeness and try to open a new chapter here, so to speak.

Clearly this is a phase of life where "something has to give" and that something has been the blog. But it makes me sad when I think of all the stories I didn't tell. All the pictures I've taken over the last HALF A YEAR that have not seen the light of blog. 

Since I started this blog as a record for my kids to have when their older, I feel like I've let them down by my neglect of this space. Weekly, I resolve to dig into those hundreds (thousands?) of pictures. To cull, edit, export, upload and post. And write informative/meaningful/engaging/witty/love-filled stories to go with them all. Then I start thinking about all the other posts that never got written... Liam's 7th birthday, various visits from family over the last 2-3 years, the amazing deck Peter and his dad built summer '10, our Easter week spent with three other families at a vacation rental in Colombia last April, the baby shower that was held for me in Bogota hosted by a dear friend, a last fun filled, Nerf battle playdate that Liam had with friends before leaving Colombia... 

And the list goes on. 

And I get overwhelmed.

And I do nothing.

So instead of trying to go back through the last two years and write every story that should have been written, I am instead choosing to simply write about what's been going on this week. 

Thanks to the Scintilla Project for the writing prompt, to Soulemama for the format, and to my sister for nagging on my Facebook wall.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

RIGHT NOW, I AM...

:: Enjoying the thought that spring is coming. Bulbs are beginning to sprout new growth and buds will soon be appearing on the trees. I can sense things slowly starting to wake up... me too, perhaps?

:: Seeing the disaster in the boys' room grow and grow and grow. While they're loving having all their Lego and Playmobil in their room (while the basement is a job site), I start to twitch every time I'm forced to enter.

:: Missing my mom after her visit in February.

:: Searching on kijiji and craigslist for that perfect vintage/retro/mid-century couch.

:: Watching my calendar fill up with spring maternity, newborn and family photo sessions.

:: Smelling a whole new array of smells from the diapers of an eight month old who's being introduced to new foods daily. Motherhood is glamourous. 

:: Putting away the calamine lotion and calendula cream (finally!) after having the chicken pox spread from Liam/Simon to Andrew to Eloise. They didn't love it, but now it's over with. Yay for immunity!

:: Looking at design ideas and paint chips as we plan the finishing touches on our basement reno.

:: Waiting for the drywall guys to arrive. They're 2 hours late and counting.

:: Wishing that life would slow down just a little. Except for the drywall guys. They can hurry up.

:: Hearing the confidence in Liam's voice as he reads (on his own! chapters at a time! with only a little bribery!), and amazed at Simon's reading ability for only being five years old.

:: Feeling a bit overwhelmed by all that has to be done and all we'd like to do.

:: Reminding myself of where my priorities lie.

:: Remembering how very much I have to be thankful for.

:: Laughing at the boys daily. They drive me crazy on a routine basis, but they also bring such great joy and laugher and fun to life.

:: Being more and more aware of areas where I fall short and where I want to improve/change/grow. This is a good thing!

:: Working on organizing those thousands of photos I've taken over the last many years.

:: Tickled that Simon and Andrew like peanut butter and pickle sandwiches.

:: Noticing how much longer and warmer our days are getting. Hooray!

:: Recording Simon's use of the term "yesternight" and Andrew's pronunciation of "yicken pox".

:: Happy that Liam enjoys the Rick Mercer Report just as much as Peter and I do.

:: Hoping that Eloise won't break a bone before she actually learns to walk SINCE SHE THINKS SHE ALREADY CAN. 

:: Listening to the sound of Liam rummaging through drawers of Lego upstairs (the soundtrack of my life), Simon and Andrew giggling/fighting while making silly videos of themselves on the computer, and Eloise breathing deeply as sleeps in my arms.

:: Knitting, um, lots in my head! I'd love to make some toilet paper roll knitting nancys for the boys and see how they take to it.

:: Inspired by Ann Voskamp. Her blog, her reminders to live life fully and THANKFULLY, and this post especially.

:: Thinking of two great men. One recently diagnosed and the other whose journey ended Monday night. I know we're not to live in fear, but cancer scares me.

:: Eating ice cream for breakfast next week in honour of Bruce and Jim and countless others. In Bruce's own words, "as a show of support AND as an affirmation that everyone will vow to live life and not take even the small things for granted".

:: Hoping that this blogging thing sticks for a bit!

family fun

With three boys who have had a camera shoved in their faces most of their young lives, in order to get them to agree to a "nice" picture, I have to bribe them with getting to do crazy ones afterwards. So for every nice picture on my hard drive, I have at least a couple of these...

Truth be told, I actually like the crazy ones better than the normal ones most of the time! Very soon I'll have enough to put into a book!

 

This photo was submitted to the I Heart Faces photo challenge – www.iheartfaces.com

Christmas Day in photos

Andrea from the fishbowl once again issued an Hourly Photo Challenge for Christmas day. I've enjoyed seeing others blog their holiday pictures in this way in past years, and -having joined the iPhone club not long ago- I decided it'd be a fun way to document the day... although my DSLR wasn't far away the entire day and also got put through its paces. 

This was, however, a lot of fun.

Moreso for me than for all my family who had to endure the alarm on my phone going off every hour and me spending a few minutes each time to edit and upload a picture.

Good thing they're used to me having a camera in my hand.

So here it is, our Christmas day in hourly increments...

8:00am... and the kids are still asleep! All five of the older ones! Only the babies are up.

   

9:00am   Baby's first Christmas. For this baby AND my new niece and nephew. 
STILL waiting for the bigger kids to wake up and join the party.

 

10:00am   A trio of minifigures from Liam's stocking.

 

11:00am   Christmas kisses. She's so sweet.

 

12:00pm   Andrew sitting at the window waiting for everyone -who wasn't sick- 

to get home from church, and hanging out with Sir Axlerod and Finn McMissile.

 

 1:00pm   Tucking into the big gifts since we only had time for stockings and 
breakfast before heading to church. It was a tight fit at my sister's, with seven adults, 
five kids (3-9), and three babies!  (wish I hadn't left the black bands on the top and bottom of this pic)

 

2:00pm  Spreads and dips and crackers and fruit and nuts and chocolate and 
coffee and egg nog and juice and Irish cream, oh my.

  

3:00pm   The building begins.

4:00pm   The building continues.

 

5:00pm   Simon on the left and Rowan on the right. Masters of mischief. 

Getting along better than ever before.

 

6:00pm   One of my two (TWO!) jaunty hats. You will see them both often.

 

7:00pm  These particular Christmas decorations are up year round at my sister's place.

 

8:00pm   After seven boys between my older sister and I, we both had surprise pregnancies 
this year AND BOTH HAD GIRLS! Eloise is on the left and Maizy on the right.

 

9:00pm  My nephews received these carousels for Christmas from another aunt. Twitter 
informs me  Es ist ein Weihnachtspyramide!  (translation: It's a German Christmas carousel!)

 

10:00pm   Since someone was sick-and-throwing-up-and-took-an-almost-four-hour-nap-in-the-afternoon, that someone got to stay up late and play games with the grownups.

 

11:00pm   Ticket to Ride is FUN! (depending on how fair charitable you are, I either came in second or last)

 

12:00am   I kind of look like I have no/weird eyebrows here, so just look at the sweet-
and-wide-awake-at-midnight Christmas baby in her pretty rainbow wrap.

It really was a nice, nice day. 

We had fun giving gifts to our family and were thoroughly spoiled in return. We all received gifts that were special and fun and thoughtful and perfect. The boys were thrilled with all their Legos, Peter with his Tassimo (to take to work), me with my hats and wool and jewelry and to-be-exchanged-for-different boots, and Eloise with her crochet hat and handmade dolly.  

We tore through our stockings, ate copious amounts of good food, Peter took Liam and Simon to church where their uncle Joel was preaching (to a higher capacity crowd than was expected for a Christmas Sunday morning!), opened loads of presents in a bit of a frenzy to make sure we were through before my younger sister and her family had to leave for her in-laws, ate some more, visited, put a not-feeling-super-well Andrew to bed for a much needed nap, said "No you can't open any new Lego sets." a dozen times before finally relenting because we realized it was too cruel to make them wait, made some phone calls home to friends, talked to family on Skype, ate even more, built more Lego, searched for already-missing Lego pieces, played with babies, read Christmas stories at bedtime, played Ticket to Ride until far too late and finally went happily to bed.

It was a very good day and a very good night.