bear & lion

here's a peek into the highs and woes of our life

it’s an honour just to be nominated!

by

i had some exciting news waiting for in my inbox the other day. this little thing that we call the internet, that has enabled me to blog away here at bear & lion, has opened up a whole new world of cyber-connections and cyber-friendships. boy-o-boy am i proud and excited to announce that i have been nominated for my first blogging award, all thanks to always generous and kind, dilovely. she’s become one those a fore mentioned cyber-friends, whose blog is always so interesting to read; she writes about movies, her family, kids, politics, being a teacher… it’s all there!
so, here’s how this whole thing works, the rules to follow are…
  1. Display the Nomination logo on your blog
  2. Link back to the person who nominated you
  3. State 7 things about yourself
  4. Nominate 15 others and link to them
  5. Notify those bloggers of the nominations & award requirement
so, let’s see, logo posted (check), linked back to the person who nominated me (check) i am now on rule #3; i will list 7 things about myself.
  1. i love to make lists. i make to-do lists, vacation packing lists, grocery lists, lists for dear hubby… i make lists for most occasions as it helps keep me on track.
  2. i am a mover and a shaker. after living in one location for a year or so, i start to feel antsy and want to move somewhere new. it all started with a childhood filled with moves within a community, but also several international moves. and as an adult, i have kept up that trend of moving, moving moving from city to city and country to country!
  3. i have pea sized extra bones in my feet, just above my arches. when i was growing and dancing as a kid they caused a lot pain and there was discussion of removing them surgically, but that never happened, so they’re still there. luckily they have not been an issue in a long time.
  4. growing up i always knew i wanted to be a mother to boys and here i am today! what the odds of ones dream coming true! not sure if we should mess with the dream and try for third…
  5. i am vegetarian and have been for years. it is purely for ethical reasons and sometimes i still crave red meat, even after ten years! what i wouldn’t do for some good, salty salami!
  6. i am always looking for a deal, which goes hand-in-hand with my habit always looking for gifts for people. my eyes are always peeled for christmas gifts, birthday gifts, various upcoming events, and so i buy things when i see them, even if it’s 6 months in advance! 
  7. i have an enormous sweet tooth. i love chocolate, ice cream, baked goods and if they’re all in one bowl, all the better! i have passed this onto my youngest, my wee lion!

and, here are my list of nominations… you will notice a quick trend with the blogs that i read.
  1. whatever: i have been reading meg’s blog for a couple of years now. she’s a crafting queen in kansas, with five kids! reading her blog is always very positive; she uses beautiful colours and photograph’s to share her stories and projects.
  2. corner blog: i discovered tiffany’s blog about 6 months ago and have been faithfully reading it since. she is a mama from san-francisco, a part-time burlesque dancer, mother of two, and crafty lady with various projects on the go. her pictures are lovely and her “out of the box” ideas are fun to try at home… i have!
  3. zach aboard: is another family blog, but this time it’s about a family of four living full-time on a sailing boat! how fantastic! cindy is a homeschooling, homesteading kinda mama of two, but because they live aboard, some of their daily routines are so different from ours, the land dwellers, so her entries are so interesting to read. cindy also takes beautiful photo’s capturing their aboard the catamaran they call home so perfectly.
  4. bebe suisse: i stumbled upon this blog a few months ago via the NaBloPoMo’s we both participated in at BlogHer. elizabeth shares her struggles with infertility through her writing; her honesty is humbling and inspiring. her sense of humour is silly at times, as she explores some of the most mundane or adventurous aspects of her life, while living it up in switzerland. 
  5. lone home ranger: another mama blog about a mommy trying to do it all. justine is a self-proclaimed foodie and shares all sorts of yummy recipes on her blog. she also shares ways to eat locally, seasonally and how live more simply.
  6. maine momma: i have been a fan of kristin’s blog for a while. her entries tend to be short, but they are beautifully written and always inspiring. kristin is a photographer and her pictures are real joy to look at, and also kinda intimidating. her eye is incredible.
  7. my so called life and other lies: this blog comes straight from the UK, written by a mama who is trying to homeschool and homestead, among other things. debbie captures her life with beautiful photographs and blog posts describing recent family events and numerous sewing projects. this mama is a whiz with her needle and thread!
  8. attack of the redneck mommy: this is an awesome canadian blog, written by tanis. she writes about the day to day stuff, but her story really pulls on the heartstrings. her sweet “bug”, her son, passed away and the pain that she struggles with in her life is very real. tanis is very funny and honest about her life, her pain, her kids and herself– no holds barred!
  9. helmen talo: here is delightful finnish mama blog i follow. it’s about a family living in a small apartment in helsinki, finland. the pictures are lovely and depict finnish family life quite accurately, in my opinion.
  10. loulou downtown: i want to quickly mention this IS NOT A MAMA BLOG. lou lou’s blog is like a diary capturing her life in toronto through written word and photography. i love looking at her photo’s and trying to guess where she’s been! her blog also makes me a little nostalgic for the city i used to call home.
ok, i am feeling a bit sad that i can’t come up with 15 blogs, but honestly, i don’t have the time to read and follow that many interesting lives. the blogs i do read, i do so faithfully and with loyalty. 

that being said, i am thrilled to have been nominated and i hope you take the time to check out some of the blogs i listed above. i love to read about other people and how they live, or parent or whatever.

xo, mama lola

(back) to school.

by

tick-tock-tick-tock…
that is the sound of time going by too quickly! my kid is starting JK in a matter of weeks and i feel like i am not ready.

he will be getting THIS bag as his backpack from mountain equipment co-op. it’s a bit pricey;

i’m justifying it with the expectation that it will last longer than the cheap ones with various television and movie characters on them. plus, the school is strict about the size of bag and i think it fits their requirements, although it is a bit big for my lil’ bear. If I hadn’t bought this bag for him, I would have probably purchased this personalized photo backpack, not only due to their quality but because of their unique and special addition of having either his or a loved one’s face on it!

For now, though, I told him we could get some patches to decorate and personalize the bag.

we also ordered him a subscription to chirp magazine. i bought him one issue for our road trip and he loved it, and i think it’ll be a great way to make him feel big and special. who doesn’t love receiving mail?

and finally, we ordered some labels for all of his stuff for school. bear is pretty meticulous about his stuff, but he is only four after all and so easily distracted! now i just have to figure what kind of lunch bag to sew him.

this september bear is supposed to attend school full-time, but with the disastrous experience we had with the summer camps, i have decided to only send him three days a week. i think this is more reasonable and c’mon, it’s JK, which is not mandatory in the first place! his anxiety peeks during stress and separation from me, and i think come the holidays we will re-evaluate his attendance at school. maybe he will need more, maybe less.

he obviously doesn’t know yet that he will be attending fewer days than his peers and we will broach that conversation after school starts, i think. i don’t want to plant ideas in his head, i just want to answer his questions. bear has friends who are not attending daily, so it’ll make the discussion easier, i hope.

all of these transitions are so hard.

xo, mama lola

a summer wedding.

by

our dear bubba and patty got married this weekend. it was one of the most beautiful weddings i have attended. the ceremony was held in a gorgeous church, steps away from the reception venue. the reception itself was beautiful, with flowers and candles, everything down to the last detail was perfect, they even had the most gorgeous linen for table cloths. The mood was so happy and it seemed as though nothing went wrong. as one of the co-MC’s, i knew from the start that things started a bit behind schedule, but hey, isn’t that kind of expected? whose ever been to a wedding that’s right on time?

here are some photo’s from a wedding weekend.
the wedding rehearsal on friday evening went great. the kids raced down the aisle when it was their turn to practice their walk, but at least they didn’t cry or scream!

bubba came to our house to get dressed with the kids. he brought with him a photographer that he found when he searched for wedding photography Virginia Beach companies that would later be the photographers for the whole day and actual wedding. considering the photographer unexpectedly came to my house, it made me feel very insecure about all the mess. oh well, so it goes. in the picture below, you can see bubba all dressed walking in the background. he looked so good!


our boys were the ring bearer’s and took the responsibility seriously. at the ceremony dear hubby walked down the aisle with them, but as we sat in the pews they were exceptionally quiet. this meant, dear hubby and i sat at the front able to witness the beautiful couple exchange vows. the ceremony was followed by communion, and that’s when we snuck out of the church to go have a bit of a picnic on the lawn.


unfortunately, i took no pictures of our family. no pictures of the bride and groom, my SIL and her family or my in-laws. there are no pictures of m co-MC and i. this is what happens when the family photographer is busy with other responsibilities! i’m hoping to collect some photo’s from other people and compile memories that way! They looked for a while to find the right photographer for their wedding, as they wanted their photos to look amazing with their own unique style, luckily they found someone who could deliver that. If you are stuck with finding a photographer, doing a quick google search can help you, an example of this, is typing in ‘wedding photographer Charlottesville‘ if you needed to find one in that general area, don’t despair you will find one!

it’s so fun to get dressed up sometimes, especially since it happens so rarely. the kids were such superstars and lasted late into the night. by 11:15pm, both kids were passed out so we hopped into a cab and came home. they slept through the night and even slept in a bit this morning, which was a first for the kids. with an early bedtime for all tonight, i think we’ll be as good as new to start our week tomorrow.



i will sign off this evening with my toast to the newly weds that got me all choked up last night:

“ i would like to make a toast. i feel honoured to be standing here in front all of you; the people dearest to patricia and blake. let us raise our glasses in celebration of this wonderful occasion… trish and blake i think i speak for everyone here when i say we wish you the very best in love, in life, together as husband and wife. to trish and blake…


xo, mama lola

lazy days.

by

it’s funny how far our big trip already feels. we’ve only been home a few days!

we’ve been laying low at home, playing with our toys and trying to find a familiar routine again. the weather is wet, dark and gloomy outside, which is helping justify all our inside time. although, we have made time to see friends, everything has felt very low key, which is what this mama needs right about now. we all need to charge our batteries for the wedding this weekend; friday is the rehearsal at the church and then a dinner and saturday is the wedding. that’s a lot for my two guys. and me.

got my hair done today for the wedding. i dyed it the “OMBRE” way, which i just love, love, love. my version is a bit more subtle compared to some edgier peeps, but i do love it! i can’t remember the last time i dyed my hair professionally, shocking, eh? i took the plunge as i love my hairdresser and she gets my low-maintenance needs, and never pushes any products on me. she’s amazing!


kids up in bed for stories.
time to pull out the sewing machine and work on the wedding stuff. i will post pics when the bow ties and ring bearer pillows are done.

happy tuesday everyone!

xo, mama lola

recovering.

by

we’re home.
finally arrived yesterday just before dinner.
the last couple of days of our road trip were trying to say the least. the kids, especially bear was feeling fatigued. and i get it, so that’s why we got home slightly earlier than planned.

our two week summer roadtrip out to the maritimes was such an adventure and i am so glad we pushed through with such stamina. even when the chips were down with rough weather or fighting siblings in the back seat, we got through it! dear hubby was the coolest of us all, but that’s just the kinda guy he is and anyone who knows him won’t be surprised to hear that! two weeks of just the four of us, all day every day, was a bit demanding at times!

[ Quebec City, Quebec ]


the kids did better in some ways than i had expected, but they did throw some wicked, earth shaking tantrums when i least expected it, as well. the routine of our home life was completely dismantled on this trip, which is the nature of a roadtrip, but that left my two little boys scrambling for regularity at times. plus, throw in a time zone change of an hour and well, as many parents know, time changes can be very stressful for kids.
that being said, dear hubby and i are already planning our next trip! we will take the lessons we learned on this trip and move on new adventures. (i will actually make a detailed list of what i would change in an upcoming post.)

this was our first real holiday as a foursome and what a thrill it was to explore new parts of our vast land with my guys. it was such fun watching them help set up the tent or snuggle close every night as family. although the kids probably wont remember much of this trip. i will and so will dear hubby. for us this trip, was about being a family, being in the moment and being together. I must admit though, as much as camping was a lot of fun, I think next time we would definitely take a caravan with us instead just because it does make life a lot easier and supplies some much needed comfort when everyone just needs to unwind. I’ll be looking at Auto Finance Online to see what deals we can get on a caravan big enough for us all.


[ St. Andrew’s, Nova Scotia ]


today is sunday and we are hunkering down, getting back into the groove of things. the boys are wild with glee as they rediscover their toys and are reintroduced to books left at home. i have been super aggressive about getting our laundry done, and with five loads already washed, folded and put away i am now left with washing three sleeping bags. phew! it’s been kinda wild! dear hubby is airing out our stinky camping stuff and will tend to our tent as it so desperately needs a good soak! and, the car needs a supernclean too. we may just take it in to for a partial detailing, as there is a slight odour lingering. yuck.

[ Random beach on the Atlantic, Nova Scotia ]

i took about 1500 photo’s and feel rather overwhelmed at the thought of editing and sorting them! obviously many of them are not worth keeping or posting, but stay with me as i eventually organize the photo’s into slide shows or something.

and our house. sweet, sweet peppermint patty as we lovingly named her, stood waiting for us when we pulled in the driveay. we arrived to clean floors, cupboards and fresh sheets on the beds, all things i carefully did before our trip. and boy am i glad i did! my garden outside is a bit of a disaster, though. while we were away there was lotsa rain and the weeds have taken over, making the front look very wild and unkempt. I will have to get out there for a few hours and atleast try to tone down the jungle!

[ Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia ]

the list of things to do is growing, as we have busy week ahead. Bubba and Patty are getting married next saturday, so we are in full wedding mode now. We all have various responsibilities at the wedding and reception, so not only do we have to look fancy and clean, we have to have our ducks all lined up! Bubba and Patty have been getting their ducks lined up too for this wedding, they want to make sure they have everything done and dusted before the big day. I think they had recently been discussing a possibility of a prenuptial agreement, I’m not too sure, but I know they’ll go for a great law firm to help them walk through it. A friend recommended Family lawyers in Mayfair business – Peters and May as a suggestion, so we’ll see how that goes!

happy to be home.
happy to have watched the closing ceremonies of the london olympics.
happy to see friends tomorrow.
just happy.

xo, mama lola

road trip quickie #2

by

i have another window of time, one where i have been given treehouse to keep the kids still and quiet, and free wifi for me to quickly whip up a blog post.


our trip has been pretty amazing. i am feeling very fortunate to have this opportunity to experience this country with my family, driving from community to community. we have witnessed so many beautiful views, met the loveliest people and eaten some of the yummiest sea food ever. the kids have fared well, considering the aggressive schedule we have taken on. don’t get me wrong, we have had our share of meltdowns (adults included), but overall, we are doing well. but, a little tv in a cheap motel is fun and i can’t help but love the peace it brings.


a few more pics from our trip…

from the top, louisburg fortress in cape breton, nova scotia, and lunch in charlottetown, PEI.


now it’s time to go explore halifax, even though it’s super foggy and rainy.

xo, mama lola

road trip quickie!

by

on the road.


it’s hard work, but worth it in the end.
by tomorrow we will have slept in four provinces, in three different motels and two campgrounds, changed time zones, sailed in a (mock) pirate ship during a rain storm, climbed several cannons in various different cities, swam in freezing sea water, collected shells, inspected caterpillars, experienced the tide that is fundy, driven a 12km long bridge, eaten lobster chowder that almost brought tears to my eyes (that’s how good it was) and driven well over a 1000 kilometres! and it hasn’t even been a week!


just had a beautiful shower in our motel in PEI. our tent is now drying in the bathroom, as are our tarps. we woke up to rain and had to take things down pretty quickly. fun though! granola breakfast in the car! kids loved it!


i am too tired to upload more pics and the internet is quite slow here for some reason.
tomorrow we drive in the morning and hit the beach. then ice cream and a seafood dinner; and yes, in that order!


we’ve experienced hot n’ dry, and wet n’ cold!






xo, mama lola

bear at camp.

by

bear has been attending a summer day camp this week. leading up to this week i knew the morning drop-offs would be difficult, but i didn’t realize they would be as extreme as they have been. 
on monday morning bear was screaming and crying on our way to the car from our house. the few steps it takes to walk to the driveway were stressful and full of “i don’t wanna go’s”. at camp i had to drag him to the school door, while carrying lion and trying to say hello to the camp staff. it was one of those moments where i just wanted to scoop up the kids and run and hide but, since that wasn’t going to happen, i brought bear inside as he was still crying, and tried to introduce him to the terrified looking staff. i tried to get him involved in an activity and i tried to hang up his bag. but he had none of it.


eventually i just left. at his preschool the motto was “a quick good-bye and a long hello”, which worked well there with two educated teachers who expected upset kids in the first few weeks of school. but, this camp is run by a small neighbourhood group, with one adult and a handful of teens running the day to day, who are great, but ill equipped to deal with the anxiety bear presented with.


on monday when i got outside from leaving my screaming bear with a bunch of strangers, i myself, burst into a heavy sob of tears. the whole drop off process was incredibly stressful, upsetting and i was so on edge. i phoned dear hubby and he said he would do the drop off the following day. fine.
then some other mama’s came out and calmed me down and brought me back to reality. gotta love the mama support!!!
at the end of the day at pick up he was delighted to see me and told me had had a great time with his friends. phew! maybe this was going to be ok, i thought.


so, tuesday dear hubby dropped bear off at camp. there was some protesting at home, but really compared to monday it was easy as pie. and apparently at the camp, he was clingy, but didn’t cry and eventually let go of dad.


then on wednesday i was feeling hopeful (silly me) that things would be better as it was my turn to do camp drop off again. but no. bear cried and carried on and on at camp. eventually, again, i left feeling terrible and feeling the weight of the guilt draped over my shoulders and again wanted to run and hide under a rock.
maybe i was all wrong; maybe bear really wasn’t ready for camp and maybe i should have just kept him at home. i hated the looks the other parents were giving me and i hated being labelled “that mom” or “that crying kids mom”. not that anyone was saying anything bad, but when your kid is the only one freaking out, it just kinda happens!


today, thursday, the plan at camp was to take the kids on a city bus to the art factory (where we went with friends, see pics HERE). bear was super excited about going on a bus and since it was dear hubby’s turn to do drop off again, i sat at home waiting anxiously to hear what happened. when dear hubby phoned, he said in a very smug voice that there were no tears and no clingyness and bear was fine. i was so relieved to hear my guy was fine, but was so mad at dear hubby for his smug tone on the phone. i ended the call quickly! ha! 


tomorrow is bear’s last day of camp and he sounds pretty excited about going. he is happy he gets to bring home the tie dye pillow case he made, the fish he crafted and who knows what else! i am glad the camp week is coming to a close, because the stress of it has been too much for me!
phew. we survived, but barely.
serenity now.


i have no pictures from this week. i wanted to get pictures from camp, but for obvious reasons was not able to get my camera out. so it goes.


peace.



xo, mama lola
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

recent posts

instagram

Instagram did not return a 200.