Have a good one!

Mail

We received a child assistance cheque in the mail this morning, for some reason, I'm feeling the urge for beer and popcorn......

Shopping with a smile

I finished my Christmas shopping this weekend, and it was a pleasure. No, I'm not a masochist with a thing for overheated crowded shopping malls full of stupid people who don't know where they're going, rude salespeople, and screaming children. On Saturday, I let Steve and his brother mind the children (I ran away clicking my heels), and I went with my mother-in-law to Pointe Claire village. Free parking, beautiful sunny day, and fantastic shopping! I discovered little treasures in the tiny shops that line the block and a bit on the lakeshore. Handmade, unique gifties for just about everyone, and stuff that you just don't find at the big chain stores. I'm also happy to report that the prices were very reasonable. Instead of killing myself going from store to store and getting frustrated and tired, I enjoyed a free couple of hours with helpful store clerks who actually wanted to serve me and always asked if they could gift wrap presents with a smile. I talked to store owners who told me stories about various products in their stores and got free samples of all manner of edible goodies and free coffee. It was heaven! Malls suck the happiness out of this wonderful time of the year. If you really want to get into the spirit, head for the small stores and support your local merchants. You won't regret it!

Neither rain, nor 30 41cm of snow....

could keep me and my crew, Lisa, Paul, Jack, and Maggie and her kiddies from meeting up this morning for a get together. Lisa's only in town for a few days from England, so we took the opportunity to finally meet in person. Unfortunately, it was our first big storm of the season, so the going was tough, knee-deep tough. We all made it eventually and swapped babies and had a great time. We should all visit in the summer next time though, much less clothing and slogging involved!

Say Awwwww! until you overdose

http://cuteoverload.com/

How many days until Christmas?

It was a bit of a shock when I looked at the calendar a couple of days ago and realised that it's almost Christmas and I'd barely done anything on my list. When you stay at home, you tend to forget what day it is, let alone what month. I now have no right to get annoyed at my folks when I call on the weekend during the day and they ask if it's a holiday. So I've organized my Christmas errands by geographic location and store hours, this is what you have to do when you have kids. Steve watched the kids for an hour last night while I got some stuff done. Tonight I hope to sneak out for another hour. We're expecting a storm tomorrow. Maggie and I are meeting Lisa tomorrow for a coffee and some child swapping, I hope I don't get stuck in a snow drift :-)

Still haven't gotten to the Christmas cards, I promise that they'll be out by Easter........

For Libby

Quick stuff

This is my first full week alone with the kiddies, so I have to make this quick:

• I'm down to only a couple of freakouts a day
• Feeling very guilty that I have not been able to get Ben outside yet this week to the park despite the fact that it's across the street-of course, it's cold here, so I can use that as an excuse
• Managed to get the kids to playgroup yesterday, a personal triumph even if we were over an hour late
• Had to call Steve in the afternoon to beg him to come home, which of course prompted the baby who had been screaming inconsolably for two hours straight to pass out 5 minutes before he arrived
• Wrote out half of my thank you cards, after that the Christmas cards!
• Baby smiles are the cutest things, and just like Ben, Naomi smiles with her eyes
• I've been contemplating doing some Christmas baking, am I crazy?
• I keep repeating, it's going to get easier, it's going to get easier....
• Maggie promised she'd come and visit next week so I don't lose my marbles

That's it for now. And a big thank you to Dan and Libby who agreed to be Naomi's godparents and who sent a bunch of goodies for Ben and Naomi and the biggest poinsettia I've ever seen! I hope that we can keep it alive until Christmas :-)

Time is relative

When Ben was born and Steve went back to work, there were days, as every other mom I know has had, when I didn't shower, brush my teeth, eat, or manage to get anything done other than keep that teeny tiny dictator alive while trying not to lose my mind. Steve got a two week contract and I have now spent two days alone with the kids and I'm wondering what the hell I wasted my time doing when I only had one. What a wuss I was, whining about how hard it was dealing with one baby, I laugh at my former self. Just getting the two over to the park across the street nearly did me in the other day; returning from the park with one in the stroller, dragging a toddler in the heat of the meltdown of the century made me realise that it's going to be a long winter. I suppose that it's a learning curve. Give me a couple more months and I'll be able to shower in five seconds and peel a banana with my toes while I change a diaper and breastfeed. Until then, everyone have a kind thought for me, and for you mom's with 3+ kids, you have my utmost respect, I'm a big wuss :-)