There were seven of them... and a moose.

We are just back from a long-anticipated moms-and-kids only camping trip to Manning Park. Even though several people told me I was mad to undertake such a trip (there were seven kids between the ages of 2 and 8) the trip was awesome. Great wildlife, great weather, great moms, great kids. I would even do it again!

A moose walked by our campsite. Have you ever seen a moose before? I certainly never had... and was thrilled. The photo leaves a lot to be desired, but you can only imagine the excitement and also trepidation of seven kids at seeing this guy! The deer that walked by later in the day was anti-climactic, to say the least!

Balmy breeze, bursting sun, bountiful friends... brilliant day.

Ground squirrels provided hours of entertainment for both Lucas and I. Lucas was very determined to catch one, much to my entertainment!

What's smore better than smores and friends?

God and his UFO

Lucas wants to know why God doesn't leave a crop circle when he visits Earth to make all the beautiful things. I'm considering telling him that its because God is magical... am I doing this wrong??

A Couple of Quick Trips

With only a week and a half off between terms, Rob and I decided to make good use of the time by planning a couple of trips. The first was a visit to the Okanagan without the kids. Yup. You heard that right - without the kids. This was the first time we've had a trip just the two of us since we had the little guys. Unfortunately, it was slightly spoiled by the fact that my marks and reports were due on Monday at noon and having finished teaching Friday at 7:30 - they were definitely not finished. That excuse only got me out of one wine tour :P but I did enjoy meeting the owners of Cedar Creek Winery, who also graciously put us up at Greata Ranch. We enjoyed a gorgeous afternoon under the sun tasting their wines, chatting and enjoying some splendid appies.

The next day I had the pleasure to finally meet Heidi and Michael Noble of Joie Winery in Naramata. Rob had been morel mushroom picking with them a few years back and always spoke highly of them and their endeavours. It was interesting to hear about the adventures that led them to where they are today. Again, a fun afternoon of barrel-tasting and good company.

The only photo I took was of the speeding ticket we got on the way there though. Hehehe... good tunes, no kids...

Later in the week we headed south to Larrabee State Park for a little camping excursion. The kids were in their element exploring the animals (man is banana slug slime hard to get off of hands!) They are such great campers; keen to try it all and shy of nothing nature has to offer. Lucas got himself pretty beaten up falling on barnacle-y and slippery rocks as well as totally wiping out on his bike, but he fared well. The tidal pools were amazing and we even saw a deer wandering through the campgrounds. The smores we built were also pretty damn good this time around if I may say so myself! We all came home pooped and stinking like camp fire, but it was great.

Tomorrow we start bike camp for Lucas and Swimming camp for Mia (and me!)

Strawberry Days

The marking and reports are done. Lucas is done preschool. School is ouououououttttt for... another week when I start summer term :( Ah well. We went strawberry picking today which was a dusty, sticky, funny mess enjoyed by all. Let the photos speak for themselves:

Friends

Preschool, for Lucas, is over. It has been a wonderful experience that saw both him and I grow in more ways than I thought preschool could. He started a babe and is leaving a boy. Even though I am excited about kindergarten, I am sad to see the end of the days at Little People's. We have all made wonderful friendships and learned amazing things. Thank you Little People - Teacher Liz, Teacher Lena and Teacher Alexandra as well as all the other families that supported Lucas and I as we grew.

4, 3, 2, 1

Here are the Herman - Higgins, Killam - Aitken clan all lined up by age.

Lucas 4, Owen, 3, Mia 2 and Clare 1.

It's amazing where life leads us. Did we really make all those kids???

An aside from kidlets and pets...

The following link is an excellent article about the branch of the Vancouver School Board that I work for. I won't be angry if you skip it and pretend you never saw this post, but if you're interested in knowing a wee bit more about where I'm working these days you may find this informative.

URL=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/the-school-of-second-chances/article1180987/

(I was going to write an article just like this after grad ...but I guess I was beat to it! Next time I'll get my ass in gear before it gets stolen...heeheee... )

Mind you, I don't have the capability of publishing in the Globe and Mail, do I?

Sooooo...

Ding dong, the frog is gone,
The crazy frog is goooooone.....

I must have jinxed things with my last post about our dear Froggy. After fixing him a up a super-duper new frog condo and stocking it with oh so many live, jumping fesh crickets, the little green bugger jammed his belly full and made a run for the border. Or the back door - no one is really sure. We searched the house on hands and knees for over an hour until Lucas exclaimed, exasperated with my persistence, "Oh Mommy, it's ok. It can just die. Let's go to school." What a realist. Shit.

I think I'm getting a couple of birds soon. Two baby zebra finches. Although Rob is pushing for chickens... Any votes?

Ode to a Frog

Dear Frog,

Why jump you with such grace and height

From tables, hands and chairs?

Do you aim to bring yourself a death

More dreadful in despair

Than the poor passing of our dear

Broccoli butterfly

So beautiful, so tame and sweet

Who rarely yearned to fly?

Does your sweet moist home

So full of bugs

Not fill you with desire

To spend another day with us

And hear the wee town criers?

I must confess.

There are some days

I'd rather lounge with you

among the crickets

Plastic plants

Within safe walls to rest.

Today we took you in the yard

You jumped among the grass.

How lovely and how camouflaged

You seemed until at last

We saw that crow hovering nearby you

His eyes a sharp clear stare

And off we hustled you back in

To your new home fresh and clean.

Eat my friend now

Enjoy your home,

It can't be all that bad.

If you were to leave us by feast

or feat

We would all be slightly sad.

Body Art

Mia is a really great little girl. She's most generally kind, loving, understanding and freakishly intuitive for a girl of only two and a half. And Mia loves to colour her body. Daily it seems.

Wednesdays are Rob's day off and he generally takes the kids out for the morning so that I can do some marking. However this last Wednesday we decided that Mia would stay home with me for whatever reason. I worried that I would get nothing done, but on the contrary she was a pleasure. She sat with me playing playdough and stringing beads while I marked, and only interrupted me for milk or apples about every ten minutes or so. Really, this is not bad!

When it came time to have a shower for work, we decided that bringing her markers and paper into the bathroom would be the best aversion. And what a lovely, quiet shower I had! And what a lovely, colourful zebra Mia made! So funny.

This bottom picture is this afternoon's blue goo - created by Lucas and enjoyed thoroughly by Mia. I had to cut her blue legs out of the picture due to my son's bareness!

Aaaahhhhhhhhhh.....

A smiley day at the beach with good friends puts songs in my heart.

It's hard to believe that this pic of the same two little guys at the beach was only a few short years ago.

Random Catch-Up

So, I sure am not very good at this blogging thing anymore. Life has become very full indeed and I find it increasingly frustrating to get any time to myself that does not involve marking or teaching. Ergh. Compounding this has been the fact that our computer died (largely due in part to a jumbo cup of cold,cold milk being poured over it.) That computer, now dubbed old faithful, has been brought back to life by a kind student and has taken the role of the kid and nanny computer since all our data was mysteriously lost in it's last illness. The irony is that the speedy sleek new computer does not want to connect to the internet for long periods of time. I spent a large part of mother's day growling to an innocent man in the Philippines who kept telling me that I could not avail of his service until I gave him my credit card number. When I finally buckled, against all my better sense, he instructed me to download an upgrade for vista from the internet. Bastards. It still doesn't work well and I refuse to call again after refusing their six calls for sixty bucks deal. Bastards, I repeat. So do I return the new and very expensive computer, buy a new modem or swallow my pride and call Linksys again? A greedy part of me loves to be able to surf at the same time as a kid or Rob. It's a novelty in our our house that I could (and am) quickly getting used to!

The last few weeks passed with a realization that I am simply not as important as I once was. Ha! Rob and I passed incredibly boring birthdays that saw ourselves hosting our own family festivities and cleaning up the mess afterwards. The old thrill of surprises and parties has obviously gone the way of the cuckoo bird and somehow messages posted on my facebook wall just don't cut it. When commiserating with Julia, I was relieved to hear that she felt much the same way. Next year I vow I will just go ahead and make a fuss out of ourselves! Get your dancing shoes on!

Rob worked all day mother's day and I spent the afternoon (post linksys call) with my mom and the kids. The kids were CRANKY all day, we ordered sushi (dry and bland) and laughed at ourselves - what else could we do?! The best part of the celebration was the Friday before when Lucas' preschool hosted a mother's day tea complete with wrapped gifts of kid-made jewellery, kid-baked scones with kid-mushed strawberry jam and hand-printed cards. Too cute.

Work has been really, really busy for me as I am deep into my nine-week stint teaching two English 12 classes. I am very pleased with my ability to cope with the prep and marking, not to mention the meal planning and making, housework and driving(!) but it has been quite a feat with Rob's schedule not letting up at all. I fully deserve the title of SuperMom right now. And, might I be so bold to say, super teacher? Ha! That one may be less than true! It has been really rewarding, however, to teach a great group of students who are (mostly) keen and interested in the material and process alike. I still can't wait for summer though!

Speaking of summer, will it ever come? Last year I vowed to not buy summer clothes, and I'm sticking to that again this year. It has been such a cold spring. The only light in that is that when we have had lovely warm days, we've made great use of them. This last Sunday Rob dropped us off at Coal Harbour on his way to work and we rode into Stanley Park on our bikes. Lucas was a hero weaving through pedestrians and bikers, backpack on and teddy hanging like a dead bear from his handlebars. We made several stops to adjust sunglasses and look at the wildlife, but the crowning moment was his sudden braking when we reached second(?) beach and he saw the playground, beach and pool. We spent the afternoon swimming in the surprisingly warm pool and crab hunting under the rocks - pure bliss. As was the beer can chicken for dinner when we arrived home!

Lucas and Mia, dare I say it, are getting along very well these days. I feel grateful and blessed to see them interacting together, mostly happily. Mia is so easy-going to go along with Lucas' plans and Lucas is quite content to help her when she can't quite get it. Most of the time... I'm beginning to see the light at times, thank the Lord. But no, we're not having a third. I think our friend Jeff convinced us of that! Maybe another dog though...?!

I'm sure I have thousands of other things to tell you, my anonymous readers, but at this point in the chaotic morning, I must revert back to looking after food and floors.

Hope all is well with each of you. xox Ting

"Go Canucks Go! Go Golfing!"

(As heard by most of 41st ave from Lucas yelling out the window of the truck while waving a Canucks flag post game six.)

Sometimes life is just so f$%#ing busy, no?

Time has a mind of its own. Sometimes it ticks by with painful tedium as I spend countless hours wiping down the same tables, sweeping the same floors, making the same peanut butter and jam sandwiches and saying the same things. "Broken record" is such a brilliant cliche really.

Yet then at all-too-often times (often predictable ones like before I have to get to work or dinner time) things begin to swirl and spin around me and I find that time itself has sped up and a coffee that can normally be consumed at a comfortable temperature now needs to be gulped, knots in hair must be pulled or hidden, clutter jammed into nooks and crannies, lesson ideas and to-do lists written on scraps of paper soon forgotten in my bag. Everything gets louder and I begin to twitch with anxiety about how I'll ever get it all done much less the kids dressed, but I do.

Ahhh, these are the days. And so I blog, to take a moment to reflect on it all. Because it is all there; fast and slow alike it brings with it a true wealth of gritty life that brings every conceivable emotion into our lives. And savour it I must, for it will soon pass and I will forget how pissed off I was, how embarrassed I felt, how naive it sounded, or how stupid I was. And if I forget, then how will I move through and laugh at myself the next time? Which I must, for this laughter and lightness is what makes me largely who I want to be. When I feel like I could pop someones head off like the top of a dandelion and then I listen to a child's rational behind those irksome actions, how can I not laugh at my own foolishness and wonder at the development of cognition. Life is so rich and so I also savour the joy of so many special cuddles, spoken sentiments of undying love, moments of pure silliness, laughter that makes me pee, observations that I may not have ever noticed on my own.


Since my last post we've;

- been to Baker and done some skiing and settling with the lovely Aitkens

- been to a good friends wedding

- terrorized the Loden (Rob's workplace) for 24hours of family fun

- gone back to Whistler to frolick in the pool

- homed a very tame and loving broccoli butterfly named Anna for a week (L)

- buried a mourned a beautiful yellow butterfly named Anna (L)

- realized that you really do go MUCH faster without training wheels (L)

- built and erupted numerous volcanoes (L)

- grown an incredible mop of hair that doesn't want a cut (L)

- finally got the hang of pooping on the potty (M)

- decided that Roberto Luongo is our favorite hockey player (M)

- named all our dolls Sally (M)

- accepted grandpa into our circle (M)

- taken on very full-time work for the next nine weeks (T)

- discovered that there is actually a video game I enjoy (T)

- become embarrassingly sore from 45 minutes of non-stop Dance Revolution (?)

- accepted numerous awards for his restaurant (R)

- lived on law-defying amounts of limited sleep (R)

- been accused of narcolepsy (R)

We also had a lovely Easter - I'll try and post those pics tomorrow!

And so here is this week's Tingolosophy:

When they make you snap, laugh.

When they make you fret, let go.

When they make you laugh, laugh hard.

When they cry, cry with them.

When it's just not fair, fix it.

When they dawdle, dawdle with them.

If their shoes don't match, who cares.

When you are asked to hold a slimy insect that repulses you, hold it.

Pick up other owners' dogshit. (Ok, I just threw that one in to see if you were reading)

When they show initiative, caring, insight and growth, acknowledge and foster it in the knowledge that it, like them, will grow.

And, time, like them ,will wax and wane, but it will always keep going and before we know it all we will have are the memories.

Mentholate your Life

If you are ever faced with the predicament of Vick's Vapor Rub in hair, take it from me; it may not come out.
Corn starch provides some relief.

Vancouver, BC. During the wee hours of Thursday morning, in a small home in East Vancouver, a small child of two awoke with a mischievous spirit flapping in her desires. Realizing that her exhausted mommy lay blissfully asleep in the little girl's own bed, only moments earlier cradling this small wee child in her arms, the girl left to see where her daddy might be. He was not found on his usual late-night roost of the sofa; tv blaring, remote in hand, but instead tucked up into his own bed. Faced with the confusion of not having anyone to change the channel from sports to cartoons, as her older brother still remained sleeping himself, the tot decided to stay close to her daddy and entertain herself until someone awoke and brought her cold, cold milk.

The next part is speculation, but it is believed that the poor neglected child took herself to the washroom where she successfully emptied her bladder but forgot to put her pants back on. Upon returning to her daddy, she noticed an enticing green jar lying beside his collection of used tissues. To her great surprise and happiness, it was easy to open and smelled deliciously of daddy himself. A grand dip of the fingers and that squishy, cold joy was in her hand and ready for business. With glee she lathered her half-clothed body and then took another handful. This bolder dip went into her hair and manipulated until her hair was just right. Daddy snored on and mommy still lay blissfully unsuspecting in the child's bed, so the youngster jumped in to wriggle beside her warm and cozy daddy.

When Mommy awoke shortly after, it was with trepidation that she exited the children's bedroom. Something smelled amiss - surely her husband had not drowned himself in a bottle of Vick's Vapor Rub the evening before? Perhaps the tenants were aromatherapyizing some bad chi out of their house? A Laura Secord truck dumped its contents in the lane? Do they still make those chocolates? ... ... ... Oh. A beaver. A slick, oily beaver preparing for a trip down the river? Perhaps the beaver has a bad cold? No.... Oh.... Yes.... Good morning bug.

Although hours of research have now been conducted by the family, over twelve washes with various different household products performed and countless tsk-tskings have been heard, it remains to be seen if Vaseline comes out of hair or mentholatum out of anything.

And what do the parents have to say for themselves? They were both quoted as saying that although they realized raising children was fraught with adventure, they had yet to imagine their second child could trump their first for mischievousness. And the elder child? When last seen, a serene smile permeated his every move as he basked in the novelty of not being the naughty one.

Palm Desert/Disneyland

I should be marking right now; it's really great incentive for blogging...

We needed a bit of sun and family time after the hectic holidays, so we popped down to the states for a quick visit to the club in Palm Desert and Pooh Bear. It was our first time visiting the Intrawest down there, and we were very impressed. The rooms and grounds were gorgeous and immaculately kept. The staff was great, as usual, and the club's amenities lived up to our expectations. The kids pool, for me, was a huge seller. It was shaded and only a couple of feet at its deepest. Mia spent a long day luxuriating in her own private pool while Lucas played in the big family pool. I think there are a total of five pools on the property and more than double that number in hot tubs and barbecues!

Our patio looking over the golf course. The ducks came to visit each morning to see if they could get any crumbs. (And boy did they ever at our place!)

Apparently I liked this picture a lot... the coffee sure was good!

Angels... caught in time for ever... hahahahahahaha...

Teddy REALLY soaked up the sun. He was starting to feel a little grizzly this winter, but some down time on the patio and a round of golf while we were out at the living desert really did wonders for his demeanour. I did worry a bit about his evening consumption, but hey, I figure that every bear needs a little time off from his work, right?

Pool party girl. I don't think she took those glasses off for two days straight.

Mia's trip highlights are, in no particular order, swimming in the "hot pool" under the stars at night and the kids pool by day, falling asleep in Mommy's arms in the bath tub, dancing to the live band at "Las Casuelas Terraza" in downtown Palm Springs, getting hundreds of kisses from Snoopy at Knottsberry Farm, and OMGoodness... meeting Pooh Bear and Tigger in person at Disneyland.

My little man.

Lucas' highlights were all the Daddy time playing foosball, swimming and wrestling, the miniature train exhibit at The Living Desert, the giant bag of hot kettle corn, swimming under the stars in the hot pools, the Sidewinder at Knottsberry farm, and OMGoodness ... Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain at Disneyland.

I personally choose to forget the travelling aspect of the trip and focus on the warmth of the sun, the hugs and the laughter.

Do you remember the Teacups?!

All in all, a great trip. It was far too short, but it did a lot of good for our souls.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Boobies

"Mommy, what are boobies?"

"They are breasts Lucas."

-long pause-

"Daddy? What are boobies?"

"They are breasts. You know, like what women have." (This is accompanied by wild thumping of the chest like an orangutan.)

"Oh. Yeah."

-pause-

"They're booby-traps, right?"

"Yes Lucas. And you have to be very careful because once you get caught by a booby-trap then you'll end up married with two kids."

"Ok Daddy."

Doing Time for Christmas

Sorry for the late blog. I think I went into sleep mode over the Christmas break - all of me, but most especially my motivation to do anything much more than sleep and eat. The snow, as much as I truly love it, was a short lived thrill that, coupled with a family cold, turned into a deep frustration. We didn't get even an eighth of what we had intended to do done over the break. But this, was not necessarily a bad thing.

• I think not finishing my Christmas shopping put a good stop to that last-minute panic phenomenon. Although it was a sour disappointment to not receive my photo order (six gifts... ouch) it created much warmer gift-giving once the snow had melted.



• We only once got stuck in the snow; Christmas day, everyone including Mom was packed in the truck, the turkey needed to go into Mom's oven and there were three cars stuck at the bottom of our very steep street. In a moment of testosterone combined with acute frustration and engorged SUV pride, an unnamed male attempted to pull a u-turn in two-feet deep snow. The upside of that was that we chatted with and met some neighbours who kindly spent three quarters of an hour digging us out. Lucas very kindly spent the whole forty five minutes giving us advice on how to best get out of the situation.




• I spent New Year's Eve shovelling my mom's car out of her garage, down the lane and then back into a parking spot beside her house. All for a couple of bottles of wine and some cheese. I could have walked in ten minutes, but for some stupid reason I thought I should "rescue" her from her own seclusion. Instead I bought myself a serious case of self loathing. However once again I was impressed with the help of kind neighbours as well as the pig-headedness of a certain gender. Let's just say that three different strange men got into the car and tried to gun it in their chivalric attempt to save me. By midnight I realized that my suspicion of arthritis in my hands was very likely right. Hmmm, Happy New Year.
  
• I am now consequently have a mid-life moment. I turn 35 this year, close enough! I must press forward with my to-do list.


• The best snow moment for me came when spending an afternoon shovelling. I was down the walk and the kids were safely playing in the yard when I heard a small voice calling me from far away. When I rounded the corner I saw Mia lodged, literally, in a bank of snow off the side of the back steps. She had one leg and one arm completely stuck and was madly waving the others at a hilariously cartoonish angle. I really wanted to run in the house and get the camera before I got her out, but compassion won over humour.

• I read an amazing book in about 48 hours, much to Rob's frustration at my ability tune all out. If you need a good read, check out The Book of the Negroes by Lawrence Hill.

Lucas now has a serious case of space curiosity as well as super hero impersonation.

I never got the dollhouse I wanted when I was little - not depravity, just a long story. Anyhow, this year Santa brought one for Mia. We love it.

I hope you all had a great holiday and 2009 brings you lots of good things. :) Ting