My daughter Pookie

I know that my daughter Pookie came from me. I carried her, felt her kick inside me, birthed her amid much pain and tearing...but sometimes I wonder...
Pookie is a girly girl who has told me on more than one occasion that she has the "fashion" in the family. She hates pants, gym and bike riding. She is often dressed with her hair done before I even cracked my eyes open in the morning. Her favorite color is pink, she wiggles her hips when she walks, likes to flip her hair and talk on the phone a lot. Yesterday she was dressed for church in a lovely flowy dress with a white cardigan. When I told her it was time to change into play clothes to go to a friend's house she did so willingly. (I should have been suspicious at this point) However, when she came back down, she was dressed in a pink and brown shirt, brown leggings and a pink shirt. Points for matching, but when I asked her how those qualified as play clothes she rolled her eyes and said, "Mom! Leggings under skirt make it play clothes so I can jump on the trampoline and you can't see my underwear." Then she flounced off to get in the van.

I'm not sure what to do with this girl who gets grumpy when I can't do the latest braid in her hair or make her wear pants for gym class. We get so frustrated with each other because in reality we are much more like each other than either of us care to admit. We both get mad fast, are both stubborn, loyal to fault to friends, get hurt easily by others and need to learn to give and accept love.

I love this girl more than I can imagine, but sometimes....The scary thing is that she is only 5, I can't even begin to think of what the teen years are going to hold for us!

The battle for Spring continues...

Winter thinks it's a bad-ass.  Last night as I finished updating my new look, Hubby came home and informed me that it was snowing.  Feeling a little threatened Winter?  I've got another trick up my sleeve.  A pedicure.  That's right Winter, some sassy pedicure that matches my new blog color.  Whatcha think about that?  Bring it.  

I received a pedicure as a gift from my sister and I was saving it for when I'd be wearing sandals and some cute capris.  But if Winter is going to be such an ass about things, then it was time.  A comfortable massage chair, a daring color and foot massage and I'm feeling pretty good.  So good, that I should actually start working now instead of blogging.

A new look

It is the 1st of April and it is pouring rain and freezing cold.  I am not amused.  I am way past the point of wanting Spring to actually spring!  We've been teased of what Spring could look like...snowdrops and daffodils are blooming, buds are appearing on trees and I got a good 3 hours in the garden on Sunday.  Then BAM! There are 100 km/hr winds and freezing rain.  

So, in the effort to have a fresh start at both Spring and my mood, I've done a blog makeover.  Not exactly what I want, but a good start until I figure out how to design my own.

What do you think?

Spring break, week 2

Apparently I'm not so good at reading Pookie's notes from school.  Otherwise I probably wouldn't have been so surprised to be faced with not one, but TWO weeks of spring break!  Seriously, I didn't figure it out until almost the last minute and then was a little panicked at the idea of having them home that long.  I'm sure I'm going to fall apart in the summer!

The first week was good because Hubby's mom came from Ontario for the week.  So fun for all, plus a whole lot of spoiling for all of us.  But now we are in week 2 and it is still rainy.  So, thankfully a friend from Pookie's school called for a play date and Bear is happily playing on the computer with a preschool program.  This morning I got some "school" books for the girls to practise their numbers and letters.  And because I'm feeling guilty about the 3 days and 2 nights away that I have this week due to work, I'm sure I'll feel like taking them out somewhere fun tomorrow since its Hubby long day. (Wow, could that sentence have been any longer???)

My Queendom for some earplugs!!!!

My children are loud. I blame my Hubby's gene pool for this fact. They squeal, yell, laugh and talk all at a volume louder than I consider reasonable. This was highlighted today during a visit from G and his parents. G and Pookie were supposed to be born right around the same day in the summer of 2003. G appeared nearly a month early, surprising both his parents and the other 2 couples that were expecting at the same time. Hubby set up Pookie's crib 2 days after G's arrival just in case.

The girls joyfully greeted G and rushed him around the house since it was G's first visit since we moved out of the city. The poor guy didn't know what hit him. I don't know if he got 2 words in the whole visit. G's parents were a bit surprised too, especially at how loud Bear is. It would be interesting to hear what G thought on the ride home!

The other issue is that the girls talk from the moment their feet hit the floor in the morning till about an 1 hour after I put them to bed. One article I read states that women talk 3 times the amount of men..about 20 thousand words per day. I don't. Probably not even close. Hubby uses all his words, then some of mine. I get a bit tired of all these words since I figure about half of the time it is bickering. (a whole other post) Combine the loudness and all the words and it is amazing what this house is like sometimes! Every once in a while I call a word time out so that we hear some silence.

But the reality is that I wouldn't change it for the world...although sometimes I wouldn't mind a volume control button.

A pretty perfect day

Yesterday was one of those days that was just about perfect. It actually started the night before with girls night with some girlfriends, dry ribs and key lime pie. I was home in the wee hours of the morning. Of course the girls woke up super early, but happily headed downstairs to watch TV. Then Hubby got up and got them breakfast, allowing me to sleep a bit longer. Bear had preschool, Pookie had a play date and Hubby and I got some quality time and coffee together. With our new jobs and schedule, we don't see each other very often, so this was quite nice!
Hubby headed off to work, I picked up Bear and Pookie and had lunch. Then Pookie was off to school and Bear and I headed out shoe shopping. Bear has been mentioning that her toes hurt and sure enough, she had grown a shoe size in 4 months. Luckily there was a sale at the local shop, so 2 pairs were $30 and she was very happy with her new pink and brown runners and shiny 'dance' shoes.
We picked up Pookie from school and had snack, then they went out and played with the neighbour kids for a bit. Then off to friends' house for playtime and dinner. This is a friend from high school who first brought me to church. We have both lived away from our little village for the past 12 years, but now have both moved back to raise our kids. She has 4, with 1 coming in 2 weeks...and she was the one making us dinner! Any way, it was fun to watch our kids together. Her little boy quietly asked his mom if I had any little boys at my house and if he could come play. Tracy gently told him that I only had the girls and he was not that excited by that news. I told him that I needed a little boy to play with sometimes and had a great time racing cars with him. (I threw in a bit of tickle wrestling too, which was pretty fun for both of us)

We left at bed time and came home and headed straight for pj and teeth brushing. The girls were in bed by 8pm and asleep soon after. I got my gear ready for work, waited for Hubby to get home at 9 and we both headed to bed soon after.

Nothing too exciting, but the day just flowed. And sometimes that is the best kind of day!

Time to catch up.

Current situation:

Monday ---dinner time

Sitting in living room after spending the whole day holding a vomiting child

Pookie & Hubby at Chuck E Cheese

Bear sleeping on the couch, puke bucket close by

Me, a bit of a headache and a sweatshirt that smells of barf breath.

Ahh...motherhood!

So, let's play catch up for the last couple of weeks:

Started a new job as a research assistant

Hubby started a night time paper route in addition to his new 40 hour job

Pookie had a bit of a medical scare with some bruising, tests at the Children's Hospital. (all is well thankfully!)

I turned 35

I played in my alumni high school basketball tourney that same weekend

Hubby bought a scooter which he commutes to work on

I'm sure that there is more, but I am too wiped to think about it.  From what I hear, this flu goes through a family fast.  Good times.