Travel Log #1

We have arrived in BC! It was a long day of driving. We actually got out the door ten minutes ahead of schedule (that NEVER happens), at 7:50 and headed out of town. The weather got warmer as we drove, when we stopped for supper in Clearwater it was a wonderful 30 degrees. After our cool month we were excited to have summer back.

Today we just hung out at my parents. My poor Dad ended up going to the hospital with a kidney stone attack so we just hung out waiting for news. Luckily, he is feeling much better, the worst is over, and with the help of some very nice pain killers he is at home and resting this evening. Before the attack came on though he and Jack had an hour or so of bonding time on the lawn tractor. At 6:15 am Jack was up and ready, I took the boys into the living room to quietly play until it was a sane hour. Jack pointed out the window, said "lawnmower" and "get Grandpa". Just a little bit eager! Let's see if his love of lawnmowers continues into teenage years!

Mostly just eating, talking and visiting going on here. The best kind of time with family, although we will head out and actually DO stuff while we're here too. My boys are all in bed, Darrel included. He was in bed at 7 tonight, I think he's enjoying being away from home and all his work and chores. You know, how if you are at home, there's always some project you could and should do, but when you are away you can totally relax. He slept in until 8, had a two hour nap this afternoon and now went to bed at 7. I think he was a tad overtired, eh?

well, I am off to sit in my Mom's office and enjoy a good book while she prepares her relief society lesson. Kids always seem to gravitate to their mothers, doesn't matter how old you get, home is still where your mama is.

Last Weekend's Garage Sale Finds

 Darrel absoloutely LOVES garage sales. They make him happy. So we go nearly every weekend of the summer. Last weekend we scored a life jacket for Jack, a new Mighty Machines Video (at the firehall, I think I've already seen it like 100 times!), a lawn chair, and the piece de la resistance, a golf bag and cart (for $5!!!). Jack loves his little Winnie the Pooh chair. The trick is so does Eric, at least if Jack is in it. We may have to keep our eyes open for another one of these.

Halfway There...Maybe

 One coat of paint is on in the entry way, only two, or three to go! After Darrel did the cutting in I wasn't sure if I was going to like it, but I'm really liking it now. I have this vision of what it will look like once we get the key rack, nice wood trim and shiny coat hooks, and the new clock we want to buy for the wall. It's crazy how much this little project has made me like our home that much more. A coat of paint (or two or three) really does do wonders for a room. (I realize this colour may be pretty dark for many people, but I AM LOVING the non-white, or some variation of white, it makes me happy to see colour in the house.)

Growing by Leaps and Bounds

I just can't geet over how much Eric is changing lately. He's literally learning something new every day. I know they say kids are sponges, and this Eric is not that remarkable or out of the ordinary, but sometimes it is so amazing to see your child conquer new things at such a pace. You have to sit back and just admire their ingenuity, intelligence and determination when after 10 tries they figure out which hole the circle goes in, or how to open a child proof latch. :)

In the last week or so our little monkey has learned to:
1) sign "more" in sign language
2) shake his head no
3) climb onto the couch (when Jack takes off the cushions)
4) dance (moving his torso up and down) when I sing
5) put the rings on the ring stacker
6) walk behind the fisher price 'walk n learn' car

I love it! This is one of the reasons that I am home, so that we can be a part of the every day ness of our kids lives; these little moments that in reality mean so much. I am blessed to have this opportunity, and I'm grateful for Darrel who works hard to support our family so that it's possible.

We went on a date tonight, first one in a LONG time. I met Darrel after work and we went to a late matinee and then out to a Lebanese restaurant for dinner. It was soooo nice! We really don't take enough time to nurture our relationship, and it was fun to try different food together, walk hand in hand and just be alone together. I really love my husband, he is a good man, and always tries to do what is best for us. I appreciate all he does to make me happy. We have a little joke between the two of us based on a Red Green joke, "just remember if the girls don't find you handsome they should at least find you handy." Well, Darrel is both handsome and handy, a deadly combination, and I'm a lucky girl.

Taking a Moment

I feel like I've been ignoring my blog the last little while as life has gotten really busy with kids, calling, work, home renos, company preparations, etc. etc. etc. My near mental breakdown this weekend (it sounds more alarming than it was, I was mainly just grouchy and feeling very overwhelmed), was another moment for me to think and take a breather and just relax. I have been thinking a lot lately about something I read a while back on focusing on the moment and parenting toddlers. I'm going to just paste it here because it is the essence of what I want to say and what I need to keep reminding myself to do.

"When was the last time you were "in the zone"?

When was the last time you experienced that hypnotic feeling of being so utterly concentrated that you lost track of the rest of the world?

When was the last time you were completely task-oriented , enveloped in a self-induced trance, hypnotized by the joy of just doing something - of being entirely focused on a single task?

It takes a great deal of discipline, but it is possible to cultivate this awareness - this attention - and to elevate the ordinary to the extraordinary . This mindfulness is meditation in itself.

When you are able to lavish this kind of singular attention on your kids, you honor them with the greatest gift in the world. And you unleash enormous focus, creativity, and energy for yourself.

Single-task orientation

We develop this present moment awareness, in part, by ending the multi-tasking that pervades a typical mom's day.

When we live a life that has us cleaning the fridge while talking on the phone while baking cookies while toting a toddler, days, weeks, and our children's birthdays slip by.

Ask yourself: Are you multi-tasking yourself into more stress? When you try to do too much at once, you raise your stress level, which diminishes your energy and puts you on the fast track to burnout.

Only mindless tasks should be multi-tasked, and there aren't a lot of mindless tasks when kids are present. Decide which tasks (and people) deserve your full attention. Then give it.

As you do so, work on full-sensory awareness . What does your child's hair smell like? How does she look at you? How does her hand feel in yours? What will you remember about this moment for years to come?

Think about how much better it is to slow down , to get lost in the moment, to appreciate every one of our God-given, miraculous moments by creating an environment of serenity, peace, and pure productivity. A place where there is no frantic, frenzied rushing but only a singular focus that guides us to the next task and the next, throughout the day.

Your life is made up of ordinary moments, and it's foolish to rush them in an attempt to find a bigger, better, more dramatic moment.

Joy exists in the mundane tasks, and learning to immerse yourself in them brings a quiet, powerful form of energy.

You will learn, gradually, how to savor this "everydayness." Begin now.

Whenever you feel your attention start to shift away from the present, gently remind yourself to return. Focus on each of your senses in turn. At this very moment, what do you see, smell, hear, feel, taste?

Start small. Begin practicing mindfulness with a simple routine you do every day, such as brushing your teeth or making your bed. As you go through the routine, focus on what your body is feeling at each moment. Once those simple tasks can hold your full awareness, shift that awareness to the other tasks in your life.

When you start to feel as though your mind is slipping away from the present, bring yourself back by asking yourself "what am I doing?" Once again, focus on the physical sensations the activity produces.

It takes a great deal of discipline (and many, many reminders) to cultivate this level of awareness and attention, but you'll feel more creative, focused, and alive if you can master it.

Begin today."

So this is my lesson to learn, to take my joy in the everyday and focus on the moment, and not do three million things at once! It may take a lifetime, well hopefully not...but you never know.

Harvest Days

This weekend is Harvest Days here in town. We started it off right with a parade. This, we decided, is our kind of parade. Lots of candy being thrown, many spots along the parade route for the taking even 5 minutes prior to start, and it was all over in 20 minutes. Hooray! Jack lost some of his trepidation when he saw the police men on motorcycles, and even more when people started throwing candy at him.

I got a huge kick out of the 'Kick-a-poo Kids" square dancing club float, they were actually square dancing as it drove along. On the side they had a sign that said when you join you get three free lessons. I mentioned this to Darrel with a little smirk, he had a quick answer for me, basically saying they'd have to PAY HIM in order to make it bearable. :) No date night square dancing in our future I guess, oh well.

After the parade we headed over to the arena to check out the bench show. I had put my scrapbook page into the competition and I got a 2nd place ribbon! yay! I guess to be honest I should say that only three people entered the category, so we all got ribbons, but you know, I was ahead of one person. hahahaha Darrel said am I not glad that four people didn't enter and I was the one person who didn't get a ribbon. Yes indeed, I don't think my ego could have handled it.

I wanted to take some pictures of the exhibits in the "Crispy Rice Cereal Sculpture" category, but alas there were no entries. There was lots of competition in the painted rock category though.

Yup, I know you are all wishing you hadn't missed the fun today. Book now, if you call early you can come stay with us for next year's Harvest Days. Like I said, there's lots of candy, tonight there's an outdoor cinema at the school (Grease!), and a pancake breakfast tomorrow. Doesn't get any better!

Before and After

Yesterday I was very excited when my belated mother's day gift arrived. I ordered a book on retouching and restoring photographs, and man is it ever helpful! Honestly, it is fantastic what you can do with photoshop or a photoshop knock-off like GIMP. This is a before and after of one of Judy's (Darrel's coworker) photos. I had done some work on it before, but the techniques in the book really helped me polish it up.

Fort Edmonton Park

We had such a fun day at Fort Edmonton park last Monday. I hope we get in a few more fun outings like this before fall hits.

Stopping the Insantiy

I have finally done it: assumed my youngest child could, should, and would sleep through the night given the *opportunity* to do so. Way back in February when we originally sleep trained him I felt like it was okay if he woke up and nursed once in the night. My logic was that he "is so little" and he's not eating other food, and he needs that mid-night snack. Well, this once in the night has morphed into twice, three times, and then whenever he woke up. Thursday night after he woke up at 10:30, 11:30, 1, 2, 3:30, 4:30 and 5, (and I got up every one of those times), I said that is enough. Seriously. So Friday night he was in bed at 8:30 and stayed there until 7...with a few wake ups, and after the 10:30 one where I went in, patted his back a few times, gave him some teething gel and said "night-night" the door remained shut. And yes, there was some crying. But each night it's gotten shorter and the wake ups have become fewer and longer in between. Last night he woke up at 10:30 as we went to bed, cried for a little bit and then went to sleep and then at 2 he woke up and cried for less than 5 minutes. Hooray! Best of all he seems to be thriving on this extra sleep.

I think it's going to take longer to sleep train me. My body has become used to waking up so often, so now I wake up around 1 and 3. But instead of getting up, I roll right back over and say, no no Mommy, it's night night. :)

Jack is also sleeping better. I think he tunes out Eric crying, but all the door opening, rocking chair noses, people walking, and Mommy muttering, would wake him up.

Darrel says that he is sleeping much better and waking up feeling a lot more rested.

So, overall it's a win win win win for the Anderson family.

Honestly, I can't believe what a difference sleep is making for my coping skills, my outlook on life, etc. I feel like a different person. (Which makes me wonder how the heck I have survived the last couple of years.)

Three cheers for sleeping babies!

Our Littlest Cutie

 

Trying to keep up with scrapbooking everything. There's people who say they are years behind and will scrap it all eventually but I know for me it's now or never as far as these ages and stages layouts go. I won't remember the unique things about Eric @ 12 months if I wait a year, let alone 5 or 10! He is a darling and we love him to pieces.