duh-dah-daaaaah! INTRODUCING...

So I mentioned earlier that I had a new blog to introduce to you. A blog unlike any I've come across. Mommy blogs are a dime a dozen (or rather a dime A THOUSAND), and every time I turn around I seem to bump into another. freakin'. review. blog.

This blog, this blog is different.

And what this mysterious industry with universal appeal? Or at least univeral applicability? The funeral industy.

Yeah, you read that right. The funeral industry.

And who's the blogger? Well that'd be my younger sister, Lynette. The one who likes to leave ridiculously long comments on my blog- that is, when she actually takes time out of her busy reality-TV-watching-People-magazine-reading schedule. And when she's not practicing these other noble pursuits, she's busy studying to be a funeral director and embalmer.

A twenty-seven year old girl (whatever, she's my little sis, she'll always be a "girl" to me) choosing a job in the funeral industry? To work with dead people? Why yes, THAT IS WEIRD. Don't worry, we've all had our "Are you serious?" moments. She'd had to explain and defend her decision to E.V.E.R.Y.O.N.E. So what's a girl to do?

START A BLOG, of course!

What's more, *whispers* it's actually pretty good. It's surprisingly interesting and her writing is quite clever and fun to read. Lyn was never all that, um, academically inclined... however we aaaare related, so it shouldn't come as toooooo big a surprise... seeing as I'm pretty seriously fabulous. Can I get an "amen" to that?

Hello? *tap, tap* Is this thing on??

So head on over to My Life with the Dead List and give my little sis a big bloggy welcome. As long as she refrains from using terms like "srsly" and "prolly" and doesn't start blabbing blogging about pop culture or other nonesense, I think she has a lot of potential. Pretty sure she has the market cornered on studying-to-be-a-funeral-director/embalmer-blogs.

If nothing else, check it out for the beauuuuuutiful blog design... and help me bully her into using capital letters. CAPS ARE YOUR FRIENDS, LYNETTE.

YES, I AM SHOUTING.

stay tuned

I have a new blog to share with you later today (hopefully). I'm just waiting on the blogger to make it a bit more annonymous because of the nature of the blog. I will say this, however, that I'm pretty sure it's subject matter is unlike another other blog out there. At least nothing I could come up with using Google's blog search.

It is not a mommy blog.

It is not a review blog.

It is not a techie, or product blog.

It is a blog about an industry that WE WILL ALL DEAL WITH at at least one point in our lives, but one that very few know anything about... Ah, the intrigue! The mystery!

So check back later today and I'll let you in on the secret.

(No, I did not start another blog. I did give this particular blog a much needed makeover. It is fun to read AND (now) fabulous to look at.)

just desserts

I know I just wrote a post recording some of the memorial things that Simon has said recently, but I can't NOT write these down.

Me: Simon, are you ready for some yummy apple crisp?

Simon: Yeah! Apple christmas!

(except it was more like "Chriskmus" because he kind of clicks his 's')

Me: Simon, would you like apple crisp or lemon pie?

Simon: Um... I want lemonade PILE!

(or rather, "melamade")

Yes, we do eat food other than dessert, it just so happens that I made an apple crisp this last Friday (with some of our delicious apples that we picked at a local orchard last week) that was gluten-free and dairy-free for Simon to make up for the fact that his older brother got to go to the church with our homeschooling friends and he didn't.  Then today -AFTER SPENDING 7+ HOURS AT THE GATINEAU HOSPITAL, AKA THE WORST HOSPITAL EMERGENCY ROOM IN CANADA, ONLY TO GET AN ANTIBIOTIC THAT I'VE MOSTLY DECIDED NOT TO USE- I decided I needed a bit of a pick me up. In the form of lemon meringue pie, of course.

Of course.

Thus the two desserts.

And thus Simon's insistence on calling it pile instead of pie.

(I realize that that last "thus" doesn't really work there, but I choose to leave it. I am exercising my right to be grammatically incorrect.)

fix-it-friday #30

I decided to play Fix It Fridays over at i heart faces today. Since starting homeschooling, I haven't had much time for this sort of thing. However Liam being gone for the morning and being stuck sitting all day with a sick baby on my lap gave me an excuse the chance to play with this picture.

Here's the original, underexposed photo. Being relatively new to some of the semi-manual settings of my camera, I often make the same mistake of forgetting to change my settings when the light changes. I have dozens (if not hundreds) of this-would-be-a-great-picture-if-only-I'd-remembered-to-____________ type pictures. Not having the money for the benefit of Lightroom, I'm left to my own devices (ie. Gimp) in order to fix photos like this one.

Here's my first attempt. In addition to lightening/sharpening/taking some of the read out, I decided to play a bit with the background color with this one. For no reason, really. I thought it looked groovy (like this wee man's surfer shirt) and like the ocean (that I imagine is what he's looking so intently at).

And a black and white edit. Cause things always look purdy in black and white. I added an slight sepia tone by adding an orange layer at, like, 3% opacity. Just to warm it up a bit. Cause beaches are warm. Logically.

So there you have it. What I spent my time on today between nursing, wiping eyes/noses/bums, nursing, rocking, nursing, designing my logo, nursing, nursing, nursing...

(While most people lose weight when they're sick, I'm pretty sure Andrew will have gained. He's been nursing like a newborn since last night. A feverish newborn. Poor babe.)

Speaking of the logo, what do you think? Better than on the lemonade stand pics? Thoughts? Opinions? Is it too pretentious??

they said

While Liam was reciting his memory verse earlier this week:

"So God created man in his own image,

In the image of God he created him;

Male and email he created them."

                   -Genesis 1:27

I about peed myself laughing! Clearly he's heard the word "email" more than the word "female".

* * * * * * * * * *

Simon is forever confused by the pronouns "our" and "their".

When he's listing off people we're going to see at church/park/pool/friend's house it will go something like this: "Imma see Joriiiick and Eduaaaaard and Loulouuuuuu and our moooooom and our daaaaaad." or "Imma see Leaaaaa and Melooooo and our baaaaaaaby and our mooooooom and our daaaaaaad." In both examples, "our" actually means "their".

I think it's super cute. He'll figure it out eventually, so I don't  bother to correct him.

We run into trouble, however, when I tell him that someone is coming to our house to play, forgetting that he'll interpret that to mean that we are going to their house to play.

* * * * * * * * * *

Andrew, now 8 1/2 months old, has two new favorite activities both of which can be done in the bathroom:

• Unrolling the entire roll of toilet paper. He does this not by spinning, but pulling, pulling it down, hand over fist. Gleefully. Twice I've found him sitting proudly in a fluffy mountain of toilet paper, squealing and grinning from ear to ear; 
• Playing with the door stopper. It would be more accurate to say that he has a love/hate relationship with the door stoppers. He does enjoy the sound they make while he's whacking and batting at them, but his ultimate goal is to pull them clean off the wall. Because chewing on things trumps hitting them.
  

Much to Andrew's utter dismay, the door stopper in Peter and my bedroom present a serious challenge. Once easily removed, it has now been screwed in extra tight (thanks, daddy) and will not come off.

No matter how hard our little man pulls. No matter how loudly he grunts or how piercing his screams . No matter the heights of his aggravation, that door stopper will. not. budge. And the ensuing trantrums -8 month old tantrums!- are hilarious.

And what do his father and I do while our infant son is in the throws of frustration? We stand back and watch. And laugh.

Remind us of this when he's two and throwing dishes at our heads.

* * * * * * * * * *

Things that Simon says that I don't want to forget:

• ipok = iPod
• ob-lobs = Loblaws (grocery store chain)
• I need a so high push. = wants to be pushed on the swing
• el-ah-peen = machine (we have no idea where this came from)
• day-ber = Xavier
• Mummy, please you say we watch Cars? = at nauseum every time we drive anywhere
• Andrew is my friend. = Awww. But it's more like, "Andwew id mah dweeeend."

There are more that I've been meaning to jot down, but I'm drawing a blank.

the little lemonade stand that could... and did.

All summer (ie. SINCE THE DAY SCHOOL LET OUT), Liam wanted to have a lemonade stand. We're not sure whether the idea came from a movie, TV, a book, or talks at school, but it was clear that the idea was firmly and irrevocably entrenched in that little steel trap of a brain of his.

A lemonade stand, we would have.

Unfortunately, we live on a rather quiet street. One where, even on the weekend, he'd be lucky to have one or two people walk by in an hour, with no guarantee of actually selling any lemonade. While I recognize that part of having a lemonade stand is just the experience itself, I didn't want him to be all geared up and excited about it (too late!) only to be bored and disappointed when no one came by.

Thus was born one of my crazier parenting ideas.

Each year, Gatineau hosts the Festival des Montgolfieres de (or Hot Air Balloon Festival of) Gatineau. This festival draws tens of thousands of people - and happens to be only a few blocks from our house. And watching hot air balloons can be thirsty work...

See where I'm going with this?

Not only did I not want him to be discouraged if his first financial venture was a failure, I also didn't want to put much of my own thought and effort into a project that wouldn't be worth it. However with the Air Balloon Festival so close by, we would be guaranteed a high amount of foot traffic comprised of people who were out for the day expecting to spend money. And if you were hot and thirsty, would you rather buy a drink from a hairy, sweating carny covered in prision tattoos or a couple of bright-eyed, bushy-tailed and adorably eager six year olds? 

No brainer, right? Right.

Besides, see how cute the stand built by Peter and Léa's dad was?

They sold cans of pop, bottled water, freshly homemade cookies and 
rice crispy squares, and of course lemonade.

And see how cute Liam's friend, Léa, was? How could anyone say no??

And see how the kids charged $1.00 for each glass of lemonade??

And see how most people didn't even bat an eye at what 
we, at first, thought was a pretty step price?

Even though I was the one who initially came up with the pricing, I was more than slightly nervous that people would balk at the notion of paying a dollar for a cup of lemonade or a cookie from a couple of kids. Now to be fair, these were big glasses, 12 oz I think, and the cookies and rice crispy squares were alse biggie-size, but still.

The main motivation for the pricing was simple convenience and had little to do with profit margins. Both Liam and Léa are only six years old! Although Léa's mom and I worked daily with the two of them for a couple of weeks leading up to the lemonade stand, we knew they wouldn't be able to quickly and easily add, substract and multiples of $.50 or $.75 in order to make change. Making everything a dollar meant that they would be able to take on the responsability of taking money and making correct change. It was, after all, their lemonade stand. Neither I, nor Léa's dad wanted to have to jump up to make change for each customer.

Some of the profits found their way into our stomachs... or those of our siblings, as was 
the case with Léa's little sister, Mélody (or Mélo). Mmmm, marshmallow-y goodness.

Between serving customers, Liam and Léa compared their recently 

lost teeth. But see how Liam's permanent teeth came in behind his baby 

teeth? For awhile there he had two rows of teeth. Like a shark. 

Ew, eh?

All in all it was a very successful day. Not only did Liam and Léa get to finally (FINALLY!!) have their lemonade stand, but they learned how to make change, how to work together, how to greet and serve customers, and (hopefully) that hard work is required in order to be successful and to make money.

And make money, they did.

After repaying their generous financial backers (ahem, their parents), their profit for the afernoon was $72. Since they decided earlier in the planning that they would donate 25% of their profits to a charity, after sending $18 to World Vision, they each earned $27.

Not bad for an afternoon and a couple of six year olds, eh?

sunshine boy

taken 06.Sept.09 at our friend, Denis', birthday party

For more Wordless Wednesdays, head over to 5 Minutes for Mom, 7 Clown Circus, and Wordless Wednesday.

contemplative

This week's challenge over at  i heart faces is "contemplative". For some reason, I kept drawing a complete blank for ideas or even past pictures I'd taken. Luckily I found this picture of Simon when I download pictures from the camera last night. This was taken last Wednesday after finding this little yella' fella on our doorstep. Liam was not interested in posing for pictures, but Simon was thrilled to have some one on one time with the "cayapiya".

Although I think he looks like he's missing a limb in this picture, I love how intently he was watching the caterpillar climb up his shirt. A moment when Simon was actually still and quiet is always worth photographing and preserving for posterity!

On further contemplation (get it? get it?), this picture could be an entry in the pets category too. Aren't I clever.

oh that's right. I have a blog.

Take a look at my Blog Archive...

March - 25 posts

April - 32 posts

May - 31 posts

June - 21 posts

July - 24 posts

August - hmmm, only 14 posts?

And now with almost half of September behind us? 2 posts! Only two! This will be my third, but still. September is looking to be a rather lean month on the blogging front. It's not due to a lack of blog fodder, rather a lack of time to devote to the dear ol' blog. Highlights from recent weeks:

• been swimming to two lakes, five pools (and actually swam in four), and a fun water spray park
• Liam lost two teeth (I pulled one and he ate the other, a discovery which was quickly followed by a total  complete and monumental meltdown)
• we had a very successful lemonade stand (to the tune of $72 profit)
• our first few weeks of homeschooling have come and gone... and the novelty (for me) has yet to wear off (Liam, however, is wondering when THE REST OF HIS CLASSMATES WILL BE JOINING US... um...)
• Simon made the kind of mess that seriously threatened his very existence (a story that MUST be told, but that I still can't think about with getting very, very, VERY angry)
• had to Google "how to remove a leech" AND "how to flush stain from a screaming toddler's eyes" all in one weekend
• Andrew made it painfully clear that I had to choose between eating chocolate OR sleeping
• because of our decision to home school, I was able to book our tickets back to Regina for Christmas for an OVER THREE WEEK visit... Liam started packing his bag that afternoon.
• I got my hair cut. Short.
• we had a family photo shoot, done my the talented Melanie for mPhotography, whose blog I re-designed. Great trade, eh? I can't wait to get some proofs to share with you all.
• have taken HUNDREDS of pictures, yet posted none. Looking back, I haven't posted a picture since August 19th! Must. Remedy. The. Situation.

I'm really hoping that once I have my homeschooling/housework/etc schedule nailed down, I'll be able to find a little bit more time for me. I realize that some (*cough* Peter *cough, cough*) may not understand the attraction to this whole bloggy world, but for me, it's my time to not only record memories of this season with our boys, but also to connect with other moms. It's important to me. Although I'll willingly give it up in order to homeschool Liam, I do miss it and hope to be able to find the time continue, even if on a less frequent basis.

Now to see about those photos...

thinking I might need to clarify

Reading through some of the comments and emails I've gotten after posting the email we received from Peter's dad, I think some clarification is needed. 

I posted his email because, while reading through old correspondence from that period of our life in order to write Nathaniel's story, I was struck by this particular email from him (one of many). I was truly touched by it.

When I read his words with the added perspective that only time can bring, I don't see a challenge or admonition -which is how I fear some of you took his email- but rather an attempt by a grieving father and grandfather to make some sense of a senseless situation and to try to offer some (any!) comfort to us, his children. 

I'm afraid that some of you read his email and felt it cold or harsh, when I know that's so completely not the case. When I first read it, I might've rolled my eyes and was likely a bit angry (NOT at my father-in-law, but at the God who I felt was, if not responsible for our son's sickness then at least unwilling to do anything to change it). I KNOW  I cried. While I'm sure I recognized the Truth of his words when I initially read them four years ago, my heart was so broken that I couldn't see passed my own suffering enough to find any comfort there.

When I read it again, last week, I read the words of man who was hurting -hurting for us AND with us- and who was confused and grieving, but who was also hopeful and trusting and who was holding fast to God's faithfulness. I'm sure that this second reading produced the effect that was desired when the words were originally written... I was encouraged and comforted and reminded of not only my father-in-laws love, but of my Heavenly Father's love.

God did not promise a life without pain, yet He will not waste our suffering.

He is totally worthy.

If you haven't already, go back and read the email in question. Read it afresh, with a bit softer heart and with a bit of background knowledge about that time and place. Hopefully you will find yourself as blessed by the words as I was... that's why I posted it!

(Related: I have a wonderful father-in-law.)

From Mourning to Dancing: Part IV

From Mourning to Dancing: Part III

What follows is an email that my father-in-law wrote to us sometime during the late summer of 2005, while we were still in shock over Nathaniel's Trisomy 18 diagnosis. Although of little comfort at the time (in fact some of it probably made me angry), I now hold his words, and the Truths the convey, very dear to my heart.

Dear Peter and Amy,


This letter has been very long in coming. I'm sorry.


I've been thinking and praying about you and Nathaniel and wanting to encourage you somehow in this tough time.


I can't say, "I know how you feel."


I don't.


I do, however, know how I feel (even though Mom sometimes accuses me of being a "non-feeler"), so I'll try to express that.


I'm sad. I'm especially sad for you. Dashed hopes are always sad. The fact that it happens so often in our lives doesn't make it any easier, and this is a much more significant even affecting a little person you love and for whom you have waited months.


I'm not angry with God, but I admit to wondering what He has in mind for you. My trust in God has grown over the years to a point where I don't often accuse him of improprieties, but He often surprises me by things He does or allows. When that happens I'm sometimes a bit like a Pinocchio questioning the wood carver! It's so absurd and the extreme of pride to think that God might need my advice, but here it is! Pride is what doomed Satan to expulsion from heaven, and it is probably the root of all other sins. Nevertheless, I'm still finding roots of it in my life as I work my way through my reactions to your situation with Nathaniel.


I know that God is good, loving, gracious and merciful. He is totally wise and knowing so that He applies those qualities in our circumstances from a perspective that is eternal and perfect. Yet I question him! We humans dare do what no other part of creation does. And He puts up with it.


All this is to say that God is also using your journey to do some molding in my life. I'm also convinced that God knows what He is doing, but we may not see the answers in this life.


So, yes I'm sad, but I'm growing.


I want to ease your pain without knowing how. I do know that God loves you very much. I do know that God never promised a life without trouble, but did promise the possibility of triumph in that pain. The pain you feel is very uncomfortable and I am unable to relieve it. I feel like the Old Testament king who in desperation prayed, "God, I don't know what to do, but my eyes are on you."


I'm so very sorry you are going through this. One crowing truth that made an impact in my mind and heart today was this: No matter what pain I go thought in life, Jesus warned me in advance that there would be trouble and He is totally worthy of my life regardless of that pain.


Does this cheapen the experience or the pain we feel? Not at all. Although it doesn't provide answers to the "whys", we know that we are accompanied by one who understands, and one who wants to make us stronger as a result. It removed us from the category of "victims" and makes us "soldiers" in a battle whose final outcome is victory for those who remain steadfast.


I love you,
Dad/Craig/Grandpa

From Mourning to Dancing: Part V