with love.

September 24, 2011 by mama lola

first, i want to let everyone know, that mr. WJ is going strong and has been home for the last couple of days. our friends’ four year old had some health concerns and he has been diagnosed with asthma, but the family is feeling positive and WJ is happy to be back to his ol’ shenanigans. xoxo

here are the overdue cottage HURRAH pictures. good times, great friends and a life time of memories!

[due to technical issues, i have started to use flickr as a way to share my pictures on this blog. i am still getting the hang of it, so please, bear with me.]

second, i wanted to acknowledge that i have not been as consistent with my writing on here, but it’s only because life has gotten a few gears busier. and i knew this would happen once the regular routine kicked in, so now i am trying to figure out when to write here.

third….
this fall has been a wonderful time of year for us. we have spent time with friends, the kids are both thriving in their own selves, dear hubby signed on as a salaried and permanent employee, instead of staying on as a contract worker, we have been able to sink some money into the house, finally, and we are planning a family road trip to new york, new york.

after the storms of recent past, it feels wonderful to have the peace and calm of health and happiness. i feel very lucky to be where we are now, considering the struggles we have had to endure. it must be that darn eternal optimist in me attracting good karma [wink].

alive, but not always well.

September 21, 2011 by mama lola

how do we know we are alive?

[source]

we’ve had many conversations about death at our house. it’s one of those tricky discussions that i don’t want to tip toe around, but finding age appropriate descriptions of death is tricky.

but, bear has never asked what it means to be alive. and i’m not sure how i would describe it either. things that are alive, grow, change colour and, um, die. some things that are alive think, feel, bleed, swim, fly, move, dance. others chew their food, hunt, etc, etc.

“Dip dip dive so-socialize
Open up your ears and clean out your eyes
If you learn to love you’re in for a surprise
It could be nice to be alive”
from: Alive by: Beastie Boys

******
we just enjoyed a beautiful weekend up at the cottage with dear friends feeling alive. the big kids frolicked amongst the trees building fairy huts and keeping their eyes peeled for bears. they discovered all sorts of wonders that mother nature creates and presents. the little kids explored closer to the adults, tasting various pine cones and sticks, while soaking in the warm september sun.

more pictures to come.

we found out today that young WJ is unwell. he is the spirited son of our friends, seen here with bear and his big sis. we wish him all the health in the world to get him back home where he belongs. i am also sending his mama sunsun, all the strength to stay positive.
we love you all.
xoxo

24 hours.

September 14, 2011 by mama lola

i am feeling pretty guilty right now. 24 hours ago i wrote an entire entry about the eye patch bear has to wear and the inevitable fighting that would ensue. well, today my three year old superstar kid wore the patch for over the expected two hours and never once complained. he got busy and wrote some names with these tiny letter stickers my mom gave him a while back. he was so focused on the task at hand, that i guess he just forgot about the patch. i was bursting with pride watching him!

but, now i feel guilty for not giving him a chance to really wear the patch and get used to the whole thing. 24 hours ago i ragged on him and was mentally preparing myself for a daily fight, with visions of having to sit on him to get the patch on! not to say it will always be easy and that he’ll never oppose the darn thing, but i really have to give credit where credit is due. my bear, my oldest kid, my three year old is an amazing kid. i am exploding with pride!

today was also bear’s first day back at pre-school. he is a seasoned student as he is going into his second year at the school. he chose his own outfit to wear and looking sharp as pie, he smiled all the way to the school. as we were saying good-bye his nerves kicked in and his chin crinkled up and he was almost in tears. but, we just got outta there leaving him in the loving arms of one of his teachers. at pick up time, 3 hours later, he was smiling and happy to see lion and i. he told us all about school and as we were leaving the classroom his teacher said bear had a wonderful morning.
again, exploding with pride.

24 hours ago i was counting down to the arrival of our new fridge. well, it arrived at 5:45pm, in the middle of dinner, but no interruption could have been more welcomed. our new fridge purrs the softest sound and i keep wondering if it’s actually on. but, it’s cold inside so i guess it’s all stations go!

i don’t want to be a pirate.

September 13, 2011 by mama lola

bear has been patched. what this means is, his right eye is not getting stronger so our optometrist recommended patching up bear’s left eye. my heart crashed to the floor when dr.B told us. all i saw was fighting and tears in my future. augh. she was so great about it, giving pointers and encouraging bribery if necessary to get our ferociously opinionated three year old to wear the patch.

argh, matey!

he has to wear it for two hours each weekday while involved in a task that requires him to really use his right eyes muscles. activities like reading books, making necklaces with beads, discussing tiny stickers or colouring small, detailed pictures are ideal. but, bear is not keen on wearing the darn thing. i promised him a surprise if he wore just at tonight’s bedtime stories. the temptation of a surprise had him wearing it for about 10 seconds and then he eventually said “i don’t want a surprise”. really?

augh… i feel like this is a battle like nothing we’ve seen before. how am i going to get him to wear this unsightly, uncomfortable thing?!?! bear has really been into pirates and tonight when dear hubby tried to set a pirate scene to encourage the patch wearing for stories, bear said “i don’t want to be a pirate”. what? are you kidding me?

with pirate patch and what we call his pirate hat at story time. shiver-me-timbers!

i need to get creative with my maternal scheming and my mama bribery ways. i mean, he’s no two-and-a-half-year old being potty trained any more. no amount of stickers is going to do the trick this time. bear is an articulate, sensitive little guy who will see right through my usual tricks. i also don’t want to introduce candy or food as part of the bribery, as i have no idea how long he will need to wear the patch.

i need help. if you have any suggestions, please share your ideas with me.
thanks.

date night: first of many we hope.

September 10, 2011 by mama lola

date night started off beautifully. dear hubby came home with a stunning bouquet of flowers and i got the kids dinner made quickly. the sitter arrived and we were off. we knew from the get go it was not going to be one of those romantic dates, but it sure was nice to be out and about without that kids. maybe next time will spice it up and go somewhere romantic. at the very least we could try wearing something similar to the perfume made by True Pheromones and see if it gets us in the mood! just kidding…

dear hubby asked the florist to make a bouquet without any yellow flowers.
good man knows what i like.

so, we did what made most sense… we went fridge shopping. boy o’boy was it easy to move around looking at all the appliances, without running after a three year old down some random aisle or carrying a one year old on my hip. i never felt frustrated or flustered and actually had fun!

the fridge we bought.

the sitter did phone 20 minutes into the date as lion had stopped eating dinner and was crying quite seriously. not really the kind of information one wants to hear on a first date.

so we hit the mall! we had purchased some shoes online and they sent the wrong sizes so we wanted to deal with them without the kids hanging off of us. again, it was an easy errand without the kids and even walking through the mall was easy. then we hit the music store and bought cd’s which we haven’t done in years! so much fun!

then after another call from the sitter we decided to go home early, but then she called again 20 minutes later and said lion had fallen asleep. dear hubby drove us downtown and we had rotis for dinner. yum!

dinner.

it was not a traditional date, but it was still nice. dear hubby and i were able to talk without interruptions, which was lovely. we were able to walk and hold hands and move at a fast pace which was a wonderful change from the norm.

here’s hoping we can really make a weekly habit out of this.

love.

where i’m at.

September 7, 2011 by mama lola

ok, so i set some goals this summer for myself and the fam. i love to things to work towards and plan for. here’s where i’m at…

family dinner: well, we haven’t even started, but the plans are stewing and brewing in my head. summer’s been a bit too hectic to start new routines and family traditions. after failing to start in august it provided me an opportunity to re-think some of the family dinners and decorations i want to make. i have also assigned thursday night dinners to dear hubby, as he’s around and needs to help out at home more. we’ve arranged that he needs to give me a shopping list, so i can get the necessary ingredients, meaning he has to do some planning. i’m quite excited about this!

going green(er): the goals i set can be seen here. this is where i’m at:

grey water collection went well, but dear hubby didn’t really jump on board with it. it was tricky to get in the swing of things and find a groove, but eventually i did. i’m not sure if i’ll continue in the winter though.
i have improved with buying local and have found some interesting gifts, but i can not go into detail about them at this time. SSsssshhhhh!
paperless billing: done! I recently decided to invest in some document management software since I spend so long trying to find random documents. Now that they’re all on my computer I can easily search to find the documents at the click of the button. It’s great! And I’m saving the planet too!
this fall i will be biking to and from preschool with the kids and plan to do errands downtown while bear is in school. dear hubby has increased his bike use as well, which makes us feel good.

i still want to improve on buying in bulk, baking and making more foods from scratch and unplugging more small appliances. but the ball is rolling and we are getting better.

***

our friend from finland left, so on his final night we strolled along the boardwalk in the beach and enjoyed a cider at a local pub. great evening guys!

the beach in toronto.

the winds of change have certainly swept through this weekend. we went from a balmy +35c on saturday to a frigid +16c today (tuesday).
from this….

sweaty baby.

to this…

cords overalls and hoodies!

fall has arrived and while some kids headed back to school today, we have one last week of free time and we are taking full advantage of it. today we enjoyed a spontaneous play date with friends we haven’t seen in a long time. tomorrow we’re off to the park with other friends; the park without shade which is perfect now that the temperatures have dropped! friday we have another playdate and nature hike with friends!

a raging good time thanks to sweet malibu!

(in)sight

September 4, 2011 by mama lola

i got new specs. they’re a bit different from what i thought, but i think i still like ’em.

since becoming a wife and mother i have struggled with my own personal style. i kinda lost it in fact. and just to clarify, i have never been super trendy or fashion conscious, but i did have my own thang going on. but, after bear was born i made the common mistake that so many mamas make and went for clothes that i thought were practical, instead of pretty. and to top it all off i always wore my locks up in a messy bun, as a way to hide the tangled mess of hair it really was.

today, my post-babies-post-tumour-post-surgeries self is quite different from the pre-everything-self i knew a handful of years ago, both physically and emotionally. i am a continual work in progress and am finding inspiration in the less obvious in life. during the past year i kinda withdrew as i was feeling so overwhelmed by everything, but now i am slowly coming back to life. coming back to my life.

september is the start of a new month, with new a clean canvas to create wonderful new adventures on. dear hubby and i will start our weekly date night, we have some exciting trips possibly in the works (NYC!) and i am seriously looking to go back to school in january 2012.

baby K with her MAMA S.

and there’s my friends. i am forever and truly grateful for my friends near and far, new and old. but, i am also grateful for the friendships my kiddo’s are making, especially bear. his friends are so important to him now and he is always asking who he is going to see when. it touches my heart as i still have friends that i made when i was his age and even if seas keep a distance it is still nice to share memories.

photo credit to lil”C’s mama and her iphone.

“ring-around-the-rosie…”

my new specs brought have with them sharper vision; hopefully a better sense self and style; and possibly deeper insights into who i am, where i am going and who i want to become.

last long weekend of the summer and we will be spending it with friends. these friends in fact; bottoms up!

raspberry fields forever.

August 31, 2011 by mama lola

i thought it was going to be a disaster. i didn’t really even want to go when dear hubby arrived home from work early. i had tossed the entire raspberry picking trip into the garbage before it even got going.

tuesday morning was a dream. lion had a two hour nap, which is very atypical for my wee cat napper. this gave bear and i had a rare opportunity for a quiet pyjama morning together, which was wonderful.

his friends also napped. then he breastfed them all when they woke up.

but, when it was time to get dressed, brush teeth and go to the library he lost it. he pulled out all of his nonsense cards and played them hard. there were aces drawn and wild cards thrown into the mix; it was a disaster. i lost. i don’t even know how we spiralled into such chaos so quickly, but we did. luckily we also recuperated quickly, but more importantly together.

finally, after lunch, after the library (we did eventually make it out) dear hubby came home. he’s the one who got us all out the door, into the van and onto the road. and i’m glad he did. although the afternoon was bloody hot and the kids got tired quickly, i was able to pick some scrumptious berries and let my mind wander. i thought about everything and nothing all at once. you know i had one of those rare occasions of solitude, even though there were other pickers around me, that i miss so deeply.

there were dahlias and sunflowers. rows and rows of these stunning flowers. if i remember correctly, they’re martha stewart’s favourite flora.

then we had dinner here and realized these chain restaurants are all the same. too much grease and fat. augh… sorry.

sweet wednesday to you and yours.
thanks for reading. xo

niagara falls: majestic enormity.

August 30, 2011 by mama lola

niagara falls on a windy and cloudy sunday afternoon (thanks irene), was perfection. we took our friend who is visiting from finland to show him the glory of this natural wonder. and man, the falls sure did deliver. even though i have seen the falls many, many times i am always in awe of their majestic enormity. we are so lucky to have such a beautiful natural wonder so close to home.

and the kids were so well behaved. bear walked along with his grandpa, while lion was in dear hubby’s arms. the crowds were managable and it was just a really fun way to spend a sunday! i recommend YOU try it!

we walked, we saw, we awed. we ate expensive ice cream. i took pictures. bear walked into a garbage can. lion fell asleep in his dad’s arms. we listened to old stories from the ol’ timer.

here’s hoping the week ahead is full of this much colour!

suukkoja:: kisses.

money wow$.

August 29, 2011 by mama lola

image found here at a new blog that i like. it’s got coupons and savings codes for all sorts of consumer goods and i love to save a buck if i can.

while driving the other day i was listening to the CBC and to this show (i was especially interested in the last two segments focussed on group buying and coupon hacking). we have signed up for a few deals on wagjag (group buying) and it’s been surprisingly easy and efficient. in the spring we purchased a trucks worth of top soil for $40 and recently we got a martini and dinner for two deal at a fabulous local restaurant.

i am all about finding a deal and hate to pay full price for things, especially for items i know will go on sale. things like diapers, pasta, ice cream, cleaning supplies, and even clothes. i am that mom who stocks up her shopping cart when chickpeas go on sale and buys winter clothes at deep discounts in the spring time. according to one expert on the radio show mentioned above, people like me, who refuse to pay full price, are bad for the economy. but, in my defence, we are a single income family with four people to feed, clothe and house, so i have to pinch my pennies when i can, right?

the only solace i can find in this situation is that there are thousands of other families who live like this, so you could say that we’re all facing this fight together. in fact, my friend is one of these people. she struggled with money for a long time, and it wasn’t until she discovered that investing in biotechnology (Biotechnologie investieren in German) provided her with much more money in the long run that she could spend quite happily on her shopping budgets and everything else. Maybe i should try the same thing because she said that it’s very rare that she stresses about her financial situation now. wow, wouldn’t that be amazing? but saving every bit of money that i have is so important to me and my family.

that being said, we had a unintentional frugal weekend thanks to my dad. we went to the glorious niagara falls and he paid for our lunch and the ridiculously confusing ice-cream that cost $27 for 3 cones and a cup. confusing for me, as i had no idea how to order and kept messing things up. i still have no idea how i got it all so wrong, but i did.
sigh.