What to do when bored in timeout...

Set up a shoe store. Obviously.

Neat Run

I participated in a run this weekend. It was a five mile race down a country road from one teeny tiny town to an even teeny tinier one. What I didn't take into account when I signed up was all the hills that existed in between these two tiny places. What had once felt like gently rolling hills, this morning felt like the steepest inclines EVER, with one running into the other. But the views were magnificent, the sun was hot and the breeze was gentle.

Visit

Last weekend, the original Mamashunga and Papashunga came for a visit. The minis were super excited. To the point where sleep seemed optional to them. They weathered the lack of sleep remarkably well...until the visit was over.

We went to a giant garage sale in a swanky neighbourhood in the city. We found a few treasures, but mostly just had fun walking around. It was insanely busy, and I spent most of my time trying to navigate the stroller around the crowds.

Mr. Doo decided he had had enough after two hours, and we escaped to a restaurant for some kid-friendly lunch. Mr. Doo was pretty excited about his ice cream at the end of the meal. Check out his ice-cream crazy face:

The rest of the visit was spent playing, walking and spending quality time together. Good times had by all!

Mr. Doo shared his blankie!

Important stories were told...

More important stories!

Tootie picked some flowers...of course.

xoxoxo

Happy Mother's Day!

There is nothing quite like being a mother. It is a unique and special experience that is almost impossible to describe. I have so many amazing mothers in my life that I thought I might take a moment to acknowledge them on this Mother’s Day.

It has been an interesting and at times surreal adventure to see my friends, old and new become mothers. It has been comedic and frightening all at once. I mean, nothing can properly prepare a person to be in charge of another person’s life and well-being 24/7. But what an incredible journey it is, and it has been made all the more easier thanks to the love and guidance of all of our maternal relationships. To my friends, I say “wow”. Look at us. We are moms! Crazy, no? Congratulations! Each and every one of you is doing an amazing job. You inspire me.

My mother, mother-in-law and grandmothers are all wonderful people that I love and cherish deeply. They all have things that make them special and it would take eons to enumerate them all. So I won’t. But I will let you in on a little tiny fragment of as to why they are so awesome.

Nana, you rock. If only everyone could have such a hip and forward-thinking Nana. Your steady love, healthy lifestyle and positive outlook set such a great example for all of us.

I am so lucky to have an incredible mother-in-law. Your kindness, caring and generosity are traits that I hope my children inherit. 

And an equally incredible Grandmother-in-law, who is another fantastic role model that clearly loves and cherishes her family with her whole heart and who has a wonderful sense of humour.

My Grammie passed away when I was in grade five. I feel lucky that I had that time with her. I remember her as having a zest for life and a loud and fun personality. She did all the things that mothers can’t but grandmothers can – ice cream for breakfast, taking a child to a store and uttering famous last words : “You can have anything you want.”

And my Mum. Thank you. I never truly appreciated all that you did until I started having to do it myself. The mountains of laundry (my socks were always so white – still don’t know how you did that); the vacuuming (we had two dogs and two cats and yet I never had a stray hair on me); the dishes (I know we didn’t have a dishwasher for the first decade of my life); the refereeing (often, brothers and sisters = oil and water); the meals (each and every meal was healthy, wholesome and homemade). And then there is all the stuff that is still to come...the early morning sports practices; pre-teen angst; teenage shenanigans. (Shudder.) 

But beyond all those actions, rooted in love, there was all of your gentleness, patience and consistency. Hugs, kisses, cuddles. I know now what being a mother is. You did it so well, it was hard to see how tough it was.

I love you.

My minis were perfect angels for Mother’s Day. Not a single shout or conflict between them. They jumped at my beck and call, cleaned up after themselves....sniggle, sniggle... Just kidding. I can’t even get through writing that paragraph without snickering and giggling (sniggling). Today was a day just like any other, which just helped to drive the point home: It’s Mother’s Day and I am a Mother. And I love it.

My minis very kindly prepared some pieces of writing for me and made me cool gifts. For both of them, the first words to me this morning were “Happy Mother’s Day Mama”. What more could a Mama ask for?

We had Grandma and Grandpa over for a Mother's Day feast. We dined on roast beast, potatoes, turnip, sweet potatoes, carrots, homemade bread and cabbage. We used my Grammie's Florida Swamp dishes in honour of the occasion. 

Then we went for a nice little walk.

Which was followed by a little bike riding session.

We then came back inside, ate some delicious desserts, and were serenaded by Tootie and her developing piano skills. All in all, a fabulous day.

Tootie's Sanctuary

Tootie now sleeps in a big double bed. Truth be told, she has for quite some time now. But it has taken me some time to put the finishing touches on her room. My vision STILL isn't quite finished, but it is close, so I thought I would share.
Over the summer, I took some quilting lessons, and made her a beautiful, colourful, cheerful quilt. It was such a great experience, and even though I took sewing lessons as a child, I really learned a lot of new techniques and tricks. It also made me realize that there is still lots left for me to learn!
Using those handy dandy new skills, I made Tootie two matching throw pillows:

And I also put together a body pillow cover for her. She loved having a part in it by helping plan out the placement of the squares.

Finally, I made some curtain valances last week. I still have some fabric left over, and I'm not sure what to do with it. I have few ideas, but am open to suggestions...
Here is a look at it all:

We still have plans to change the light fixture, repaint the walls (they have been the same since she was born), and hang a cool mosquito-netting type thing over her bed.
Updated pics will follow as progress is made!

** Cool fact: Tootie's bedside table was actually my bedside table as a little girl. I sanded it, repainted it and added new hardware for her a few months back. The little doll bed beside it was also one of my childhood treasures, made for me by my grandfather.

Spring Clean-up

When the snow melts, all the winter's garbage comes into the view. That terrible in-between stage between when the pristine white covering melts and the flowers start to sprout, the earth looks brown and drab and filthy. This morning, we took it upon ourselves to help Mother Earth breathe a little easier. We grabbed the wagon and a few bags, and we filled them up with trash. Our neighbourhood and favourite trail are now a little cleaner and ready for the green to start showing through.

The minis stopped everyone we saw along the trail to explain to them what we were doing. They were so proud of their good deeds. We rewarded ourselves with some fun playtime at the park afterwards.

Happy Easter!

The Easter Bunny came! He came and he hid stuff and it was awesome! The minis had soooo much fun searching for eggs and discovering all the little surprises that he left behind. The Easter Bunny also brought Tootie a keyboard for her to practice her piano on, since she is now taking lessons. (Here's hoping she inherited some of the musical genes from Papashunga's side, cause goodness knows they are sparse on my side!)

Mr. Doo received a Blue Castle Tent, much like the pink Princess Tent that Santa brought Tootie. Now they each have a fun play haven for their rooms.

The Easter Bunny made our table very festive for us, which was great because Grandma and Grandpa were coming for Easter dinner. They came bearing treats, including some fun sunglasses and awesome headphones for the devices.

The eggs hanging from the pussywillows are (gasp!) felt.

The minis darted around collecting eggs for quite a while. Tootie grabbed all the pink and purple ones and Mr. Doo sought out the blue and green.

The minis also spotted some fun outdoor toys hidden away in the soccer net for outside use.

A little too much chocolate was ingested, a little too much crabbiness rounded off the end of the day. But all the times before that were lots of fun.

Happy Easter!