Date Weekend.

Last year was the first time in a long time that Peter and I took a night away to celebrate our anniversary.  We had so much fun that we decided to do it again this year.

We picked a new little town and headed north for a night.  The weather was chilly but beautifully sunny and we spent two days poking around and eating.

Seriously.

We started with a late breakfast in our favourite coffeeshop in town.  Then when we arrived at our hotel a few hours later we started looking for a lunch spot.  After lunch we decided we needed coffee.  Then we needed a sweet treat to go with it.  And then when the restaurant that was recommended for dinner turned out to be closed, we ordered take out chinese food and took it back to our hotel.

We laughed, we ate, we slept, we ate, we drank coffee, we ate, and we took selfies.  Lots of them.  Just for fun.

Oh, and we silly Facetimed with Juliana.  There is never really a vacation from Juliana.  :)

We did manage to find the neatest music shop with all these nooks and crannies filled with vinyl, old radios, and all kinds of old instruments.

Peter even found the drum set he had as a kid.

Another great weekend together?  I think this has now become a yearly must.  Right, Peter?

Happy belated anniversary.

xo

Looking Back: An 80's Hallowe'en.

Hallowe'en was a little quieter at our place this year - Sheldon was off at a friend's helping with a 'haunted house extravaganza' so the pumpkin carving was left to Juliana and her friend.  (It's hard to see it in this picture, but Juliana's tongue is stuck out while she focuses…it's a family thing!)

This was also the first year that she and her friends trick or treated without parents!  It was a cold, drizzly night but they still managed to blaze quite a path around the neighbourhood.

As always, Juliana's costume choice changed numerous times before the 31st, but, in the end, she pulled off 80's rocker glam:

Even Maggie (begrudgingly!) got in on the dress-up action:

We capped off the evening with a visit from my Mom, Aunt Carol and Uncle Bill and nice warm cup of tea before bed.  Oh, and a belly full of candy.  Of course.

Balance.

Finding balance is such give and take.

Finding balance as a mother is near impossible.  It's a constant struggle to make sure that everyone is taken care of.  That everyone is where they need to be, when they need to be there, with whatever they will need while they are there.  It is helping them be safe and happy while out in the world and then being their soft place to land when they are home.  It is smoothing their feathers, celebrating their accomplishments, drying their tears, and helping them find the right road to get where they want to go.

Which leaves very little time for me.

In the past, I've spent my time blogging and taking photos - things that make me happy out in the world.  Lately I've rediscovered my love of yoga.  But, right now, as a mother, I am finding it hard to make the time for both.  To find that balance.  Right now, I need yoga to ground me, to clear my head, to keep me centred, to keep me balanced.  To breathe.

Give and take.

I've taken more time to practice my yoga.  I'm finding life easier when I can bring some of that practice with me as I go about my day off my mat. But the trade off is that I haven't had the time to write as much as I would like and I haven't had my camera out as often as I would like.

This morning, while Peter is working out of town and both of my kids are still sleeping, I think I'll reflect a little on what has been happening since I last sat down here.  It's the last day of 2013 so maybe looking back on the last couple of months will help me remember what finding the balance actually looks like.

Taking a breather.

Sunday afternoon with my girl:

On the way out to the car Juliana said: "Mama, do you think that when I grow up I'm going to be the kind of girl that likes to hang out in coffeeshops every weekend?"

Given her mother and, lately, her father, I'd say the answer is likely a big fat yes.

There are worse ways to spend your time…..

A note to my Birthday Girl.

Dear Juliana,

Twelve years ago you surprised us by arriving 2 1/2 weeks before we expected you.  And then, on your way here, you decided to show the world your bum first.  You've been a bit of a scallywag ever since! :)

Every day, I am grateful that we have the privilege of being your parents.  That of all the girls in all of the world, you get to be ours. You have brought our family such joy.  Your beautiful smile, your strong voice, your crazy curls, your kind heart, your feisty spirit, and your warm snuggles make life complete.

Happy 12th birthday to my special girl!

I love you Choochie.


Mommy
xo

Photo credit:  Juliana

Book Marks.

Back in the spring, our Book Club chose The Painted Girls as our monthly selection.  As you have seen here and here, I use Post It flags to tab things that I think I'll having trouble remembering, the introduction of new characters, and passages that I think I will want to share when the time comes to discuss the book.

Last week, we found out that the author, Cathy Marie Buchanan, was speaking at a local library and given how much we all enjoyed her book, we took Book Club on the road.  When I grabbed it off my shelf, the tabs were still there so it was much easier for me to go back through and remind myself of why I loved this story so much.

When it was time to have my book signed, we had a good laugh about my tabs.

I had forgotten, until this morning when I saw her Facebook page, that she also asked to take a picture of my book.

Proud Book nerd, that's me.

Color Me Rad.

Sorry, but I just couldn't let this one go.  This run was WAY too much fun and although I'm sad that Peter and Sheldon missed out, I'm so happy that we were able to spend such a great morning with Susan and Chris and the kids.  Here's a few more shots from our day.

Before and After.  (Can you tell we're sisters?)

At the start line.

Celebrating our 5k victory!

Photo credit:  Susan

A post-race Colour Bomb!

So.  Much.  Fun.

Colour. By numbers.

Number of hours in our road trip:  31 hours

Number of people in our travel party:  3  (Plan A was a family trip together.  Then Sheldon was scheduled to work.  Plan B was for me to take Juliana and her friend, Amanda.)

Number of hours spent driving:  10

Number of times tween girls played "Wrecking Ball":  57

Number of times I wanted to gouge my eyes out:  56

Number of girls totally excited to see that Tim Horton's makes grilled cheese:  2

Number of disappointed faces when the Tim Horton's grilled cheese sucked:  2

Number of small white dogs that we saw riding on the back of motorcycles:  1

Number of small white dogs WEARING GOGGLES that we saw riding on the back of motorcycles:  1

Photo credit:  Amanda

Number of kilometres in the Color Me Rad race:  5

Number of girls hiding out in the car, pre-race, because it was too darn cold outside:  3

Number of clean, white T-shirts before the race:  6

Number of family members starting the race with really cool socks:  1

Number of colour stations in the race:  5

Number of clean, white t-shirts after the race:  0

Number of happy runners celebrating afterwards:  7

Number of family members who, post-race, realized that they needed to have cool socks like mine:  1

Number of times Juliana has asked to go to Wendy's in the last two months:  36

Number of smiles when we finally stopped for lunch.  At Wendy's:  2

Number of days late I am in writing this post:  22

Number of days until we can run another colour run:  not soon enough!

12 on 12.

September  :  Thursday

01.  Watching Juliana leave for school.  (I'll never tire of watching my kids leave the house in the morning.)

02.  Meanwhile, back upstairs, I'm getting the stink eye from Tucker.  Apparently he's not ready to get up yet?

03.  On the treadmill at the gym running to the playlist Sheldon made for me.

04.  "Well, hello mom.  Welcome home!"

05.  Look what came in the mail today - my Starbucks Gold card!

06.  Dropping Sheldon off at work - he refuses to let me take a photo of him in his uniform so this will have to do :)

07.  Amanda comes over every Thursday after school.  Unfortunately her visit sometimes includes homework.   

08.  Sheldon's math binder.

09.  Dropping Juliana off at dance.  

10.  Parental Discretion plays at the Cruise In Car Show at the arena.

11.  Music + Sunset = Beautiful evening. 

12.  Tonight's set list.

First days.

It seems like only a few short years ago that we moved to our little town.  Our big boy was starting JK and our girl was in my belly training for the gymnastic team.

A few short years later, Sheldon was already in grade 3 and our baby was starting JK.  Those were the days when the kids were excited and eager to sit on the front steps for first day of school photos.  Then they led us down the path for a family walk to school.

Sigh.

These days the first day photo gets taken in that last second before they fly out the door.

Even though Sheldon and Juliana are in different schools now, and Sheldon starts a day later, I still try to get a photo of the both of them on the first, first day.  This year Sheldon slept in so, instead, I got this:

And later, this:

I think that there is a little excitement still there.  Excitement with a side order of jitters.  And these days, even though they barely let me document it, I'll take what I can get.  This is what I got:  Sheldon's first day, Juliana's second, taken by Peter on Juliana's crappy iPod touch camera.  But when Peter sent it to me while I was at work it still made me smile.  Just because we're parents doesn't mean that we can't have excitement with a side order of jitters too.

Six Weeks of Summer: The Other Little Things.

Peter got to celebrate his birthday early when the two of us saw Wilco in concert.  Special treat:  Feist joined him on stage for 'You and I' (my favourite!) 

We spent lots of time drinking coffee.  Or hot chocolate.  Or frozen drinks.  

Juliana spent a week at Dance and Cheer Camp with her friend, Madison.

We took a great family day trip to do some biking.

He's been searching since the spring and has had very little luck, until now!  Sheldon found himself a job.  Phew!

We went back to school shopping - first I took Juliana to my (not!) favourite store.  (Can you see why my brain get completely overstimulated with all the neon colours and bling?)

Then, the next day, while I shopped with Sheldon, Juliana shopped with Peter.  To pass the time, they kept texting me photos like this:

Shopping fuel.

And what goes with 'back to school' shopping?  Back to school of course.