Happy birthday to the best puppy in the world! :)
We had to put the cupcake (actually, it was a gluten-free corn muffin) in her food bowl before she'd allow herself to eat it. She's SUCH a good dog.
43 things
Ummmm, let's see. I turned 43 this past weekend. It was a rather ordinary day, filled with all the things I love best. I played tennis with the boys; we ate take-out food and cupcakes; and we watched the final Harry Potter movie together.
In honour of my 43rd birthday, here's a list of 43 things that are going on in our lives these days.
-1- I'm still getting up before sunrise every morning to walk the dog. I love that puppy to bits and wish I had more time to devote to training her. She is so willing to learn but we just don't seem to be able to fit doggy obedience school into our schedule right now. Gah!
-2- Despite her lack of formal training, she's still pretty darned good. She sits and stays so well that we can do this to her.
-3- The boys brought their progress report home last week. No formal marks but lots of feedback nonetheless. As expected, Thomas could stand to improve his organizational skills, and James... well, he's doing fine but could participate more in class.
-4- Parent-teacher interviews are later this week. I wonder what else I'll find out...
-5- I took James to southern Ontario for a tennis tournament at the end of October. It was a real learning experience for both of us. He played three matches in total... when he played a tough opponent, he did well... when he played someone he should have beaten, he dropped his game down to their level and couldn't cobble together enough points in a row to win. Gaaaah! Like I said, it was a learning experience...
-6- Then the week after the tournament, his focus and hard work fell apart, leaving his coach and I terribly frustrated. *sigh*
-7- But now he's back on track. Hopefully to stay. I warned him that these lapses in concentration were going to cost him. Already we've missed getting into a tournament in Markham because I wanted to see a week of solid training before signing him up, and now the draw is full.
-8- Thomas played in his first squash tournament last weekend. It was held in Gatineau, just a 25 minute drive from home, but it was a very big adventure even then. He lost two and won four matches... I thought it was pretty good for his first time out, but he seemed to have different expectations of himself. Maybe this will motivate him to work harder during his lessons.
-9- Halloween. The boys made their own costumes this year. I thought that was kinda cool.
-10- Thomas' costume looked good but wasn't very practical. (Oh, and don't tell him I photoshopped that face on the pillow case... I really think that would have been a nice touch.)
-11- James is a total Spock fanatic now. Fascinating...
-12- We got our winter tires put on the car the first week of November, but wow, it's been sooooooo warm since then. We've reached high temperatures in the mid-teens (degrees Celcius), which makes it feel more like September than November.
-13- I've all but given up on the notion of ever having time to scrapbook again, but I am still downloading digital scrapbook supplies in the hopes that I'll be able to digiscrap to fill my memory-keeping cravings.
-14- I'm not teaching much at the OAC these days... just subbing, but that's perfectly okay with me. I am, however, still teaching the 11:30 Cardio class at my workplace gym every Monday. I love the participants there, which is why I keep going back week after week.
-15- Tennis. I would LOVE to play more tennis myself, but there's just no time. I hit once a week with a group of girls, and James and I usually play once on the weekend.
-16- James, on the other hand, is on court six times a week.
-17- My parents are coming up to Toronto to visit my mom's sisters, one of whom will be in town from Hong Kong for the birth of her first grandbaby. :)
-18- That was the weekend that James was going to play a tournament... the one that's now full. *sigh*
-19- I am slowly but surely turning into one of those crazy tennis parents, obsessed with getting as many matches under James' belt as quickly as possible. The reason for this is that it'll take a certain amount of experience (and likely, a certain number of losses) before he starts to feel comfortable and (hopefully!) start winning. See? Crazy!
-20- This is me with my Aunt May. James took this picture when we met up with her for dim sum after his tournament last month.
-21- I love that pink floral scarf so much. It's one of my favourite Old Navy purchases ever.
-22- I buy a LOT of stuff from Old Navy, in store and online. And today, I discovered that they have tall sizes for men. I hope the stuff I ordered for Mike fits him. If it does, I'll be one happy shopper!
-23- I drink far too much coffee. I love the taste of it though.
-24- I don't get enough sleep. That's why I need the coffee. Good thing I like it so much.
-25- I never drink coffee after 3:00 pm.
-26- I attended the Remembrance Day assembly at James' school on Friday. It was beautifully put together, and the students were so attentive and respectful. I love that school... the staff and kids are second to none.
-27- I wish I didn't still feel pain in my left Achilles tendon after I run. But I do. No matter how much I stretch and massage it.
-28- I spin in the empty spin studio when my kids are in their squash or tennis lessons. I still want to start teaching spinning, but I am a big chicken for trying new things.
-29- I am a big chicken and need to be pushed to do certain things. Like public speaking. In the past month, I've given two presentations at international conferences. I liked having a reason to put on fancy clothes, and the presentations went well... so it was a good thing.
-30- I need new tennis shoes. My coach is always on my case for dragging my right toe (because he tells me I'm not allowed to step forward on my forehand)... so I've worn through the toe to my Barricades. Yikes!
-31- James loves Lego. James also loves Star Trek. This is the result:
-32- I'm not sure how much longer I'll be able to keep up this blog. There doesn't seem to be a good way to post from my iPhone, and I'm not often able to carve out time in my day to sit at my computer to blog. Hmmm...
-33- I've become addicted to a few kiddie games on my iPhone. I play them when I ride the bus. Right now, James has me hooked on SkyBurger. Ummm, yah...
-34- Gotta make better use of my time. Like I try to get James to. This is him, doing his homework in the lobby of the OAC while he's waiting for his lesson to start.
-35- My favourite breakfast these days... frozen berries (thawed out first, though) with yogurt and granola. And a coffee.
-36- I also love me a Montreal style bagel, toasted with butter. Yum. Carbs.
-37- Mike is busy with school but doing well. Uh, except for that mustache he's growing for Movember. Yuck. That, I could do without.
-38- Did I mention that I couldn't find anyone to take my place as school council co-chair? So I am doing that job for the 6th year running. I'll have to start looking for a replacement earlier next time...
-39- The boys did a great job carving the pumpkins this year. Very cool creations.
-40- For the first time ever, we let the kids keep their candy and chips this year. All of it. We didn't ration it or hide it or anything.
-41- It's surprising how fast a kid can eat his way through a pillow-case full of junk food!
-42- Life is very busy for us. But it's of our choosing, so I have no complaints.
-43- Well, maybe one complaint. There aren't enough hours in the day for me to take pictures and tell the stories about how rich and full our lives are. :)
one obsession at a time, please!
I'm sure you've noticed that I haven't been scrapbooking or making cards as much as I used to. Over the past year or so, little by little, my attention has shifted to watching, reading about and playing tennis. It seems that my paper-crafting obsession has been displaced...
Earlier this week, I spent an hour with Thaddy, working on my groundstrokes. Again. Because I don't play often enough to remember all the things I learn during my private lessons. Because the muscle memory hasn't set in well enough for me to remember my newfound skills the next time I step on court. Because I am learning as an adult, and we grown-ups aren't able to pick things up as quickly as our kids do. *sigh*
I think he felt my frustration because he told me that he'd set me up with a ball machine while James had his lesson on Tuesday night.
So, there I was, on court 5... just me and my backhand v. the ball machine. The feed was set to bounce halfway between the service line and the baseline, and there was a decent spin on it, but not too much pace. I practiced dropping the head of my racket just before I hit, and I focused on hitting just a in front of my front hip, and I'll be darned! I think I got the hang of it.
It's amazing how I was able to relax and hit more consistently with decent form. How I found a rhythm. How I worked hard, but not too hard. How, out of the 250+ balls I hit, over 85% of them went over the net, and how 70% of them landed in. Pretty good for a gal whose backhand was spazzy and erratic just 24 hours before. :)
I walked off the court exhausted, and the next day, every muscle in my body felt it. But in a good, satisfying way.
.....
Don't worry though! I haven't totally given up my love of patterned paper and pretty things.
I've had a couple of occasions to make baby cards for coworkers in the past few weeks. :)
.....
Plus, I did this 6x6 late one night for a couple of weekends ago for a NSD challenge on the Club CK blog.
It's the story of how grown-up James seemed when he took off trick-or-treating with a friend last fall. *sigh*
.....
Yes, my baby is nine years old now...
Where does time go?!
It really does go by fast, especially when it's chock full of good things like kids, tennis and pretty paper.
Has it been that long?!
Nine years ago today,
I had just gone through the longest night of my life.
Pushing.
Resting.
Pushing harder.
Resting.
Breathing and pushing.
Pushing.
Pushing.
Until finally...
* James, one day old
.....
Happy 9th birthday, Jamesie! You'll always be my baby boy, and I'll always love you. No matter what. But you knew that already, didn't you?
on perfectionism, obsessiveness and grandparents
I am trying to teach my younger son not to be so hard on himself.
I am trying to teach my older son to just let stuff go.
As I sit at my desk, reflecting on the day I had, it occurs to me that it's one of those "blind leading the blind" situations. I think I have a few of my own dragons to slay before I can help my kids slay theirs.
{ heavy sigh }
.....
Thank you for the kind words of encouragement on my last post. I kept all that in mind as I tackled my latest layout. It's not perfect, but it's done, and I like it just fine.
I love that photo of Thomas and my mom. :)
.....
Speaking of grandparents, we hosted a birthday dinner for John last Friday. We didn't actually have room for 77 candles on the cake, but we crammed on as many as we could without setting anything else on fire.
John is wearing a pipe cleaner beanie that James crafted, and Thomas is wearing is "I'm stressed out and hiding from the world" disguise. There were multiple fights and melt-downs during the course of the evening, but it's photos like this that will define their childhood memories... smiling and having a good time with Grandpa. :)
.....
Can you tell that the boys' fighting and the snowy-icy-can't-run-outside conditions are getting to me? I need some warm weather and some kidless time off. Maybe the week after March Break... lol
2 milestones
** Milestone no. 1: I am posting this with less than 60 minutes left to celebrate my 42nd birthday. Happy birthday to meeeeeeeeee...
It was a rather uneventful day. I spent it doing what I do the other 364 days of the year. I spent my birthday looking after other people's needs. Because that's what I do. Don't get me wrong - I know for a fact that I would be terribly lonely without my "other people" to look after.
** Milestone no. 2: This is my 1000th blog post. I started blogging just before Thomas started Senior Kindergarten. He is now in grade 5.
In the years between then at now, I've celebrated a few birthdays, gone on a few trips, trained for and run a 10K race, learned to play tennis, created 100s of layouts, taken over 20,000 photos... and so much more.
Thank you for sharing my journey with me here on my blog.
xo Barb
too many photos...
I really, really want to post some pictures, but it seems I'm suffering from the same thing that everyone else is.
What to do... what to do...
I have pictures from our weekend in Toronto, but there are too many to sort through and edit. So I'll settle for sharing these, a few photos from my nephew's birthday... we're always happy to be able to make it out to celebrate with him. :)
... and a couple of bonus shots of people doing what they love to do.
...
Okay, that's all the time I have to photoshop my pictures. I'll be back later with more. :)
their 1st & 10th
Thomas and his birthday twin, Madi:
one year old
ten years old :)
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I still can't believe I'm the mom of a ten-year old. *sigh*
ten
Ten years ago, I woke up and realized that was the day my life would change forever. No more of that "it's all about me" lifestyle. No more "do whatever I want whenever I want"... but also, no more searching for the meaning of life and no more wondering what it's all about. On June 27, 2000, at 3:16 pm, it all made sense to me. I fell head over heels in love. This has been a love like no other, with extraordinary highs and a few heart-breaking lows. It's one of those journeys I wouldn't trade for anything in the whole wide world.
Happy birthday to the boy who made me a mom... happy 10th birthday, Thomas!
a busy, busy week...
It was a crazy busy week with lots of stuff going on at home and at the school. But the most important day of the week was Friday. Look at this... I am the proud mama of an eight year old boy now. :)
We had pancakes on the morning of James' birthday, and then we celebrated with a movie theatre and restaurant party (with real cake! lol) on Saturday. I wasn't sure how we were going to manage with two adults and seven kids, but they were all really well behaved. Phew!
The fun's not over yet though. It's Sunday afternoon, and I'm just doing a quick bit of procrastinating before we head off to Grandpa John's for dinner tonight. :)
We've had perfect springtime weather here. I hope you've had as wonderful a weekend as we have.