Category Archives: Parenting

Boys, Family, Parenting

Be A Ski Racer

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Bright, glorious sunshine welcomed us to the cross country ski hill this morning.

It was our last Saturday of lessons.  Every year the age group called “Bunny Rabbits” or “Bunnies” has a little race they call the Hoppet Loppet.  The real Loppet happens tomorrow for the older kids and adults.

The Hoppet Loppet was a “race” that involved going as fast as you can from the bridge to the finish line.

Our three year old skied almost as quickly as it took him to eat his cookie medal that he received at the finish line.

AWE!  I have never seen CC feeling more proud of himself.  AWESOME!

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CC is the one wearing the bib with #12!  

Gotta love having the whole family being together, even my parents got out for a ski before the race and met CC at the finish line.

Book, Boys, Parenting

Be A Reader (My 100th post!)

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I am sitting by my computer gob-smacked realizing that this is my 100th post – how is that possible?

I guess my dad was right when I used to cry and moan about Math homework.  His response was often, “Just do 10 minutes per day and it will get easier!”.

Since starting this blog, I think about what I want to share with my boys as they get older, sometimes, I even think of my grandchildren.  I pray that this would be a living document for them to laugh at and maybe even ponder when they are older.

Every time I write, I think about YOU, the people who may read the post.  I am careful with my words, not being to extreme, but being honest and real in my daily life with three wee lads. (I can be a tad extreme, just ask Sexy Neck!)

Today, as I sit my six-foot frame at the keyboard, I want to write about reading.  What a gift reading is to give to our children!

Last night, I was putting baby OC to bed.  Usually, I come out from the boys’ room to screaming, running, wrestling, chasing – it is that time of day.   This is what I came out to last night:

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Without a television in our “Playhouse“, books are our go-to activity.    None of my boys are able to read out loud yet, but the reading skills are so evident: looking at books, pretending to read, retelling the story by looking at the pictures, trying to guess the words.

I am looking forward to when they can read me a book and I can fall asleep.  Much better than me falling asleep mid-book!  Yes, this parenting of boys is sometimes very tiring!

Parenting

Be Surviving While Your Hubby’s Away

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Do you ever get an email that is so real it make you laugh til your stomach hurts?

I got one of those today and I have permission to share it with you.  It is from my great “mothering” friend, D, who has journeyed this entire motherhood experience with me.  All three of our children are one or two months apart (no we never discussed this!) and now we are moving to different cities within months of each other (we never discussed this either!).  We are kindred spirits!

Her husband has already started his job many miles away. She is holding down the fort, while he looks for a new place to live and starts his job.

Here is her email:

Subject: How to survive four nights and four days without K (her husband).

1. Wash your hair every four days. brush teeth once per day.

2. First diaper change at noon, if not after… only change him when he does #2 or wets his clothing.

3.Field most “Mommy” questions/complaints with “you figure it out” (confidence building!) add “you’re a smart girl” as a 2nd choice.

4. allow water play all over your house.  they will probably play longer with the water than the time it takes to mop it up later… and that can be a whole other activity later to keep ’em busy. 

5. It’s okay for a 15 month old to pass you plates out of the dishwasher.,

6. cook the children their breakfast, use the quiet eating time for cleaning up, and eat later (like toast and peanut butter in the car on the way to wherever it is you are going – with COFFEE!)

7. Use the gated fenced yard – go on my mom’s adage that if something happens, I’ll find out quick!

8. Strap the kids in the car, tell them you are getting a quick snack and quickly whip off the top three things you wanted to get done that day, checking in with the kids now and then… two can’t undo their buckles! YEAH! 

9. Go to dinner at a friend’s house…

Love this email, as I can relate to most of these things, even when my husband comes home after work!   My question is how did she have the time and insight to read it.  Answer, she is pretty amazing!

Cheers to a beautiful friend!

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Boys, Construction, Parenting

Be A Cushion Creator

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Normally our couches look like this:

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These are the cushions in “holiday mode”.  

If the boys use our cushions to create chaos (hitting, pushing, yelling etc.), the cushions  go on “holiday”.

Most days our cushions are used to make rocket ships, pirate ships, boats, airplanes, forts and caves.

This morning our kindergartener was home sick from school. Our boys had an incredible two hour cushion-fest.  It was incredible to see all the creations that they made, including this cave the boys wanted to eat their snack in.

Here is JC’s coming out of the cave!

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Our house is made for play.  We don’t have a playroom, we have a playhouse.

Our bedroom is the wrestling area, our kitchen table is  the crafts/playdough/lego spot, our kitchen is the science experiment/baking place and window sills are meant for climbing.

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Boys, Christianity, Parenting

Be Enjoying The Ride

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Whew, eleven weeks til our house is no longer ours.

Eleven weeks to move our “stuff” to I don’t know where.

So, we will choose to trust.  Hope.  Dream.  God has gotten us this far, He will take us the rest of the way.

What we plan on doing in the meantime is enjoying the ride.

Metaphorically and Literally.

This week, my two youngest sons and I had the car in the shop.  We went to the mall.  A place that I visit two or three times per year.  CC was in shock when he went up to the kiddie rides, asked if he could go on and I said, “YES!”.  This was a first!

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I have decided it is time to enjoy the ride in more ways than one.

health & fitness, Parenting

Be A Cross Country Skier

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I have skied since I was a child, but I can’t say I loved it.  I have memories of whining alot when I skied… oh that’s where our three year old gets it from!

Since having our oldest, almost six years ago, I have been cross country skiing and loving it.  My great friend, Diana, got me into you, got me organized, and inspired me to train to climb to the top of the mountain.  Now there has been no turning back.

Being a mom of boys, the reason that I love cross country skiing, is the exercise I can get when my boys are having fun too!  I pull a chariot that my boys can ride in or I can “drag” them behind on their skis.  Fresh air, white snow, beautiful mystical trees, sunshine above the clouds, who can ask for more?

Now we even has a dog trail so the whole family can have fun while exercising.

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I really believe that cross country skiing is one of the best family activities I know.  Everyone sticks together while going at their own pace.  We often have Nana and Papa joining us on the trails.  Also our lodge serves healthy snacks: granola bars, sandwiches, soup… no french fries in sight!

Boys, Jesus Christ, Parenting, psychology

Be Sad

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I am “hollow in the pit of my stomach” sad.

I had a picture of how my life would unfold, where I would live and specifically in which town. My husband, Sexy Neck, has been working 60 kilometres down the lake since July.

We are moving so that we can have more time playing/eating/wrestling together as a family, instead of Sexy Neck spending two hours per day in his “steel box on wheels” with just the ability to talk with us on the phone.

BUT I AM SAD!  Right now my “work”, with the help of a very wise, God-loving woman, is learning to acknowledge what I am feeling and what my children are feeling.  I didn’t realize that my body lets me know how I am feeling even before my mind tells me.  This is a profound thought for me, as I am very in tune to my body due to many years of competitive sport.

My sadness comes in the form of a hollow stomach, my anger comes in sweaty hands/ battering heart and my fear come in tension in my shoulders and down my arms.   What does your body do/tell you?

My children love this new habit of me acknowledging their feelings, getting down to their physical level, naming their feeling (anger, frustration, happy, sad, excited) and giving them a hug/kiss.  This simple acknowledgement seems to diffuse almost every situation that occurs in our home.

So here is the house with the for sale sign:

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Not many people knew that we were going to sell our house.  We had an offer even before we put it on the market. Glory to God alone! The realtor had told us that it would take between six and twelve months.  God is helping us move forward, but I am not quite ready.

I am still sad.  I wish that as people found out about us selling that they could acknowledge my sadness.  The normal response is pointing out all the great things, activities, schools, people, areas about the new city that we are going to.

What is wrong with being a little sad?  Please let me grieve so that I don’t have to see a counsellor about this issue in ten years.

Today I will be with my feelings… tomorrow I will probably be jumping off the walls with excited.  I will keep you posted!