Ten Years: Part Two

I remember preparing for dates when I was a single woman. Candles lit, romantic music on, hours to exfoliate, shave, moisturize, paint toenails, try on different outfits. I remember having pretty bras and lots of choices of what to wear. I remember the leisurely glass of wine and the anticipation of romance.

Dates as a married couple are a little bit different.

On Friday night, in the last moments of Margot's nap, I suggested to the kids that we get gussied up before Daddy's arrival home. Jude put on his shirt and tie, and combed his hair over with water. Violet found her "spawkwy dwess". I hopped into a tub full of four inches of water. Margot woke up and started banging on the bathroom door. The handle of my razor broke so I carefully pinched the blade-head to shave my legs. I threw on the same top I wear for every "special" occasion.

When I came downstairs, these two had swept the kitchen floor and cleared the craft detritus off the kitchen table, and put a tablecloth on it. They were so proud of themselves! They giggled as they anticipated shouting "SURPRISE!" when daddy came through the door. They set the table, and broke two wineglasses while they waited for him to come home.

I found the Billie Holiday CD we listened to on the night we met and put on my red lipstick. When my husband got home, we had a slow dance while Jude watched. Then Jude helped daddy light the candles. We each had a dance with our children giggling in our arms.

The kids ate their pizza while we sat with them and told them the story of how we met, and it occurred to me that everything our children will know of love and romance they will learn from us. A pretty tablecloth, candles, special glasses, a slow dance, holding hands and looking into each other's eyes go along way to keeping those embers glowing. These little ones took it all in, especially when we extended the story to include each of their births. The story of how we met is the story of the beginning of our family, and of the generations that will follow.

Once the kids had eaten, we put a movie on for them, and enjoyed our own pizza and some wine, and told stories we hadn't told before. It turns out, after ten years, we have lots more to talk about.

Bonfire Night

Remember remember the fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot.

I see no reason why gunpowder, treason

Should ever be forgot...

On a clear, cold November night, the time is right to gather friends around a bonfire to herald the shorter days that are upon us, and to remember the story of Guy Fawkes. This English tradition of burning a "Guy" to represent the man who, in 1605, attempted to blow up the British Parliament has taken on contemporary meaning as thousands of protesters involved in the "Occupy Wall Street" movement donned Guy Fawkes masks, perhaps celebrating his rebel's spirit.

Around here, we build a "guy" out of old clothes stuffed with newspaper. I proudly draw his face; somehow, I always manage to capture that expression of both defeat and disdain for his captors that I imagine Guy Fawkes wore when it came time for his exectution, all with a Sharpie marker! The man himself was executed by being hung till almost dead, then drawn and quartered. The English sure know how to deal with dissenters, don't they? That'll teach 'em...

 We howl and hoot, and raise a glass to all rebels and dissenters everywhere. Not that we condone blowing things up to get your point across. But you do kind of have to admire Guy Fawkes' spirit, right?

 The children are even more delighted than the grownups.

I used my fancy nighttime lens to get these cool shots. No, I didn't. I just did the best I could with my beloved little cheapy. Jude's latest headgear is an old skiddo helmet, a gift from his grandpa.

This is one of those traditions that I suspect my children will carry with them into their adulthoods. They'll remember the feeling of anticipation as daddy lights the fire, and mommy lights candles all around the front porch to welcome our guests; the excitement as friends arrive, and the wild abandon of being out late on a cold November night, the moon and stars adding their light to that of the bonfire.

There is a certain magic to Bonfire Night that has made it one of our family's favourite traditions.

Yarn Along: A Teeny Birthday Surprise!

I'm joining in with Ginny at Small Things to tell you about what I'm knitting and reading these days. Pop over to her blog to check out her Yarn Along, and links to others!

I finally ordered the book Teeny Tiny Mochi Mochis and once I'd finished giggling (I LOVE the teeny caveman!), I started knitting. And finished pretty quickly. Then I started another one, and ended up with this:

The acorn and cherry tomato are to show you exactly how teeny tiny these are!

Don't you love how the teeny elephant looks like she is trying to blow out a candle? The friend this will go to collects elephants...figurines and such. I'm pretty sure she doesn't have one like this! Heehee! I love saying teeny-tiny-teeny-tiny as much as possible.

I'm reading Elizabeth Hay's Alone in the Classroom. It's a love story/family history/murder-mystery set in rural Saskatchewan, as well as in a fictional Ottawa Valley town (which I'm guessing is Renfrew); I'm enjoying it so far. Hay's "Late Nights on Air" is also worth reading.

I'm back to work, so knitting and reading time is at a premium. Teeny tinies are perfect for right now. It's a miracle I can even read a novel...I should be reading short stories. Or sonnets. Or haikus.

Yes, haikus are teeny tiny, aren't they?

I'm going to rest my teeny tiny head on my teeny tiny pillow now...have a wonderful Wednesday!

i do

August 21, 2004

Seven years later...

Sometimes love blooms in the springtime, then like leaves in the summer it will grow,
Then fade away in the winter when the cold winds begin to blow.
But when it's evergreen, evergreen, it will last through the summer and winter, too,
When love is evergreen, evergreen like my love for you.



Kindergarten Graduation

I resisted the whole Kindergarten Graduation thing. I really did. But my beloved classroom assistant was so keen to create a "mortarboard" out of bristol board, that I just had to let her do it. I took photos of each of my little munchkins wearing this silly hat, and framed them as a memento of their years in my class. And guess what? I have to agree...this picture of Jude is SO CUTE!

I've hand-stamped tags to tie onto their little "diplomas", and baked 5 dozen cupcakes (there will be guests attending, you know!), including gluten free ones for Jude. My classroom assistant, Crystal, has been hard at work creating a slideshow of photos from the past two years, to the song "See You On the Moon" by the Great Lake Swimmers.

Each child created a Wise Owl by wrapping strands of cotton balls tightly around a pinecone, then adding pinecone-with-googlies eyes, a little paper beak, and some feather eyebrows and wings.

And then my assistant got into the game. She wanted more graduation hats...these ones made by painting the cup part from an egg carton, and adding a little square of bristol board. This has become a bit of a schtick with us:

I resist, she persists, I give in, she puts on the damn hats, then I have to concur: they're adorable.

Seriously!

I'll be in tears by the time everyone is seated. It happens every year. While I celebrate the many, many accomplishments these children have made in their two years with me, and marvel at the miracle of child development, I am reluctant to let them go. In a few years, they'll barely acknowledge me in the halls, which is as it should be. But I do love them so, and will miss their bright little faces: pigtails, missing teeth, freckles, tears, and the promise of all the years ahead of them. Have I mentioned that I have the best job in the world?

Fairy Tea Party

While I profess to follow the KISS* rule of raising children, I somehow cannot resist the potential of a little girl's birthday party...the food! the decorations! the favours! the costumes! I usually start checking out sites for ideas a few months in advance, jotting down anything that grabs my fancy. I can't really credit any of these ideas to one specific site; they're kind of a reflection of what my mind does with a bit of inspiration!

*Keep It Simple, Stupid!

Wands, created in Northern Ontario from birch bark coloured with watercolour paint, glued on to sparkly fun foam; ribbons and sparkly hearts were added as embellishments, then the whole lot was attached to a sturdy twig with hot glue.

Invitations gently suggested that fairy wings be worn, and every guest complied with joy. Daddy entertained the guests with silly songs, including the faery hokey-pokey..."You put your left wing in, you put your left wing out..."

Fancy tea cups are a must for any tea party; if the Guest of Honour's name happens to be Violet, then a tablecloth adorned with violets are a nice touch!

Tiny toadstool hors d'oeuvres...made from pinching one end of a mini-marshmallow and inserting it into a raspberry. Following the note I left before rushing away for the weekend, my husband and his buddy sat up till 2:30 a.m. making these...

...and these: Faery Fruit Wands!

Strawberry cupcakes with buttercream icing, tinted pink, of course...decorated with fresh violets from the garden (of course!)...

Violet requested that mommy wear a "special dress".

Tinkerbell graced us with her presence.

Sweet girl, with pink nail polish (only for a four-year-old girl!)

A wooden play kitchen has been on our wish list for a few years, but there never seems to be the money for one...so I printed off a picture of one I liked from the internet, handed it to my hubby and his buddy (the one with the tools and the know-how!), and sent him off night after night to work on it. I'm so thrilled with what they managed to create without a pattern!

Violet was thrilled, too!

While I did the research and planning of this party, credit for its execution goes to my beautiful man, who so graciously takes on extra tasks when I'm looking like I might burn out...sends me off to the north, stays home alone for a weekend with the kids, doesn't freak out when he realises that I accidentally took the van keys with me (OOPS!), and loads the kids into his little Mazda instead to get groceries for the birthday. Violet felt like the most special little girl in the world for a day, and what more could anyone want on their birthday? My heart overflows.

Turn Around

Where are you going, my little, little one?

Where are you going, my baby, my own?

Turn around and you're two,

Turn around, and you're four,

Turn around, and you're a young girl going out of the door...

Turn around, turn around,

Turn around, and you're a young girl going out of the door.

Happy Fourth Birthday, Miss Violet Pearl! I don't know where the time has gone.

Yaarrrr!

The Pirate Dad created a scavenger hunt for the pirate-partygoers, and helped the littlest ones read the clues, written in calligraphic script on tea-stained, burnt-edged scraps.

I kinda like my husband in his swashbuckling garb. I love piratey words: swashbuckling, swabbing the deck, keelhauling and parleying. I love how my husband adopts these words like they're his first language, as in "Sit ye down and drink yer grog!"

Lego pirates adorn the gluten-and-dairy-free birthday cake, where X marks the spot.

A proud first mate presents the cake to the Captain,

...and shows off her piratey grin.

By late afternoon, the guests are gone, a fire is lit, the two girls are sleeping,

and the Pirate Dad hits the bunk for a well-earned kip.

The remains of the party whisper of the fun we had,

and gifts are assembled and admired and played with.

Scattered wrappers of gold doubloons litter the floor,

and the evening sky wishes Jude River a wonderful 6th Birthday.

A Mother's Day Tutorial

This Mother's Day, we gathered at the homestead for an al fresco brunch: quiche, sausage, bacon, strawberry-and-mixed-greens salad, fruit salad, and homemade cinnamon buns. And coffee, of course! The sun shone on our little celebration, mingling with the still-cool breeze.

We made a few simple orange-juice-toasts, to the mothers present: my sister, mother, friend, and me. We toasted those not present, and the mothers who have gone before (namely, my parents' mothers, as well as the mother of my brother-in-law). We also raised our glasses to the stepmothers who raised him, and my husband, through their teens. I felt a slight squeeze in my heart at the thought of my recently departed grandmother; this was our first Mother's Day without her, and I had to keep reminding myself this morning that she would not be making her teetering way up our front path.

I spent Saturday away (that's another blogpost), so my husband had the day to prepare something sweet for the mothers present. Knowing that I photograph every craft we do, he gamely grabbed the camera and took a snap of each step! So, thanks to him, I can share this sweet tutorial with you.

You'll need:

• wool felt, various colours
• needle and thread
• scissors
• a button
• a pin or barrette

Cut a piece of felt in half lengthwise. Cut another larger piece the same way.

Fold the strip in half (lengthwise), and sew a running stitch along the open edge.

Draw chalklines about one inch apart along the folded edge, then snip!

Older children can do this on their own!

Pull that running stitch tight, creating a pretty posey!

Place the smaller rosette on top of the larger one, and either hot glue, or secure with a few stitches.

Choose a pretty button.

Add a circle of felt to the centre of the flower, with the button secured on top (either sew or glue these pieces on).

Glue another felt circle on the back of the flower, then either stitch on a barrette, or a pin.

Wear with pride, and big smile!
Knowing that my husband took the time to try a new craft with the kids, photograph it, AND present it to me as a handmade gift made my Mother's Day more than any box of chocolates ever could!
Wishing all of you mamas out there a restful, blessed day to bask in the love of your children.