raspberry fields forever.

i thought it was going to be a disaster. i didn't really even want to go when dear hubby arrived home from work early. i had tossed the entire raspberry picking trip into the garbage before it even got going.


tuesday morning was a dream. lion had a two hour nap, which is very atypical for my wee cat napper. this gave bear and i had a rare opportunity for a quiet pyjama morning together, which was wonderful. 

his friends also napped. then he breastfed them all when they woke up.

but, when it was time to get dressed, brush teeth and go to the library he lost it. he pulled out all of his nonsense cards and played them hard. there were aces drawn and wild cards thrown into the mix; it was a disaster. i lost. i don't even know how we spiralled into such chaos so quickly, but we did. luckily we also recuperated quickly, but more importantly together. 


finally, after lunch, after the library (we did eventually make it out) dear hubby came home. he's the one who got us all out the door, into the van and onto the road. and i'm glad he did. although the afternoon was bloody hot and the kids got tired quickly, i was able to pick some scrumptious berries and let my mind wander. i thought about everything and nothing all at once. you know i had one of those rare occasions of solitude, even though there were other pickers around me, that i miss so deeply.

there were dahlias and sunflowers. rows and rows of these stunning flowers. if i remember correctly, they're martha stewart's favourite flora. 

then we had dinner here and realized these chain restaurants are all the same. too much grease and fat. augh... sorry.

sweet wednesday to you and yours.
thanks for reading. xo

niagara falls: majestic enormity.

niagara falls on a windy and cloudy sunday afternoon (thanks irene), was perfection. we took our friend who is visiting from finland to show him the glory of this natural wonder. and man, the falls sure did deliver. even though i have seen the falls many, many times i am always in awe of their majestic enormity. we are so lucky to have such a beautiful natural wonder so close to home. 

and the kids were so well behaved. bear walked along with his grandpa, while lion was in dear hubby's arms. the crowds were managable and it was just a really fun way to spend a sunday! i recommend YOU try it!

we walked, we saw, we awed. we ate expensive ice cream. i took pictures. bear walked into a garbage can. lion fell asleep in his dad's arms. we listened to old stories from the ol' timer. 

here's hoping the week ahead is full of this much colour! 

suukkoja:: kisses.

money wow$.

image found here at a new blog that i like. it's got coupons and savings codes for all sorts of consumer goods and i love to save a buck if i can. 


while driving the other day i was listening to the CBC and to this show (i was especially interested in the last two segments focussed on group buying and coupon hacking). we have signed up for a few deals on wagjag (group buying) and it's been surprisingly easy and efficient. in the spring we purchased a trucks worth of top soil for $40 and recently we got a martini and dinner for two deal at a fabulous local restaurant.

i am all about finding a deal and hate to pay full price for things, especially for items i know will go on sale. things like diapers, pasta, ice cream, cleaning supplies, and even clothes. i am that mom who stocks up her shopping cart when chickpeas go on sale and buys winter clothes at deep discounts in the spring time. according to one expert on the radio show mentioned above, people like me, who refuse to pay full price, are bad for the economy. but, in my defence, we are a single income family with four people to feed, clothe and house, so i have to pinch my pennies when i can, right?


that being said, we had a unintentional frugal weekend thanks to my dad. we went to the glorious niagara falls and he paid for our lunch and the ridiculously confusing ice-cream that cost $27 for 3 cones and a cup. confusing for me, as i had no idea how to order and kept messing things up. i still have no idea how i got it all so wrong, but i did.
sigh.

i love things in the basement.

kids really do say the darndest things.
we have gotten quite strict about some things around the house. i am trying to encourage bear to tidy up his toys after he is done playing with them. sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, so now i threaten to put the toy in the basement if he doesn't get cracking. it sounds harsh, even to me as i type this, but we live in a small house and things really need to get put away. and really, tidying train tracks means putting them in a bucket, or collecting all the itty bitty lego and putting them back in their designated bin. today bear wouldn't help tidy the train tracks and he told me "i love things in the basement". fine, if you insist kid.

we were back at the airport picking up mummo from her adventures in finland. we watched some planes land first, parking illegally on the side of a road that circles the airport. it was super exciting and both boys were thrilled to see the planes up so close.

first, look at the size of the cars then look at the planes. that british airways plane on the right
was HUGE and LOUD!

inside the airport all the little people lost it, because they were so over tired by the later than usual evening and the excitement of watching the planes. bear was actually a disaster and the only way we could contain him was by dear, dear, hubby carrying him up on his shoulders. but wait, he was already carrying lion in the ergo, so it was quite the endeavour!

look at that summer bouquet my dad is holding, you can almost taste the sunshine and heat in those yellows! we also made this beautiful sign for mummo. it's a map of finland coloured and stickered boldly by the boys. the guy peaking from behind the sign is our friend, ironically visiting from finland!

mummo and her boys and a young girl staring blatantly. oh well!

here's hoping for glorious weather this weekend. hurricane irene is doing her thang along the eastern seaboard, but i don't want her to rain on us. we had such a tense night on wednesday with the tornado warnings that i am so over the storms. plus, we're hoping to hit niagara falls.

one MAMA is 29, again!

i am lucky to belong to a fantastic mommy group. initially, we were moms who came together three years ago at a public health class called baby basics. the class itself was not very informative, but it got all of us out every thursday morning with our babies and into the world. once the 5 week course was done us MAMA's kept getting together and formed our own private facebook group. there we could ask for advice, complain about the aches and pains of motherhood and share all the big and small events of our lives. having these eighteen strong, intelligent, beautiful and interesting women in my life is very important. at the end of the day we are all such different women, mothers and partners to our loves, but we continue to exchange concerns at play dates and online. our group and the bond we hold is unique and very special. we even do an annual group photoshoot with some local photographers, which i will talk more about after our september session. 


so, the other day one of the MAMA's had her 29th birthday (again) and some of us got together to celebrate. ms. meow whipped up a last minute, but lovely, evening out for the ladies. we were at a fabulous, local pizza bistro listening to electric live jazz and enjoying drinks and conversation. 

then there were the "never ending" shots that the owner gifted to ms. 29 again. it really was a never ending shot, as after each of her head tilts back he would keep pouring more into her shot glass. it was hilarious (and delicious, i had a sip).

but, we all agreed the best part of the night was being able to chat without the constant interruptions from kids. although, there were two wee baby girls there, it was nice to have some mama hen time with friends.

there is no point in partying at a pizza bistro without some slices off a hot pan and then indulging in cake.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET MAMA!

on a side note...
dear hubby and i are starting regular date nights in the fall. this is where we'll be going for our first night out in years. yes, i am sad and embarrassed that we have not enjoyed a dinner out just the two of us in years.

here & now: a VENT!

this here & now has a slightly different tone than previous ones. i have some beefs i want to get off my chest so here goes...


1. you know the swedish home furnishings store, IKEA? well, it's IKEA not Ikea, like many people think. IKEA is an acronym, like SCUBA. i have just sent an email to house & home, a home decorating media biggy with it's own magazine and tv channel and website ecetera. anyhow, they keep referencing IKEA as Ikea and it is driving me batty! with all those fancy (pretentious) designers and that absolutely over the top lynda reeves, and nobody knows. really? REALLY? i'm curious to see if they get back to me, or better yet publish my snarky email! ha!

2. this vent is more close to home. bear has started not liking what is served at dinner. i made alphabet soup from scratch with lots of veggies and beans and the always fabulous letter pasta, and he refused to eat it. usually he inhales it. he apparently wanted soup we could mix sour cream into instead. then one day he asked for pasta for dinner, so that's what we made and he refused to eat it. yesterday i made stir fry which he did not eat. today when i asked him what he wanted for dinner, he said.... rice. really? REALLY? 


*****


we're into tree climbing around here these days, all thanks to margaret atwoods' children's book up in a tree. it's a delightful read that bear has requested over and over again, with a slightly vintage twist. the story is about two kids who live in a tree. sweet.

i am feeling better now. thanks for reading.
here's to a relaxing, but fun weekend!

a park date with aeroplanes.

my mom flew to finland last week. the boys, dear hubby, my dad and i sent her off with lots of love to keep her warm at night. 

first we met at a park just under the airport runway. it was loud and kinda fun to hear the roar of the planes while surrounded by suburbia!

the airport was a bit disappointing as it's set up in a way you can't see the planes very well. after my mom sent her baggage to the plane, and after some yummy frozen yoghurt we headed to the top floor of the parking garage to see small glimpses of real planes. the sky was stunning; glorious pastels layered the sky, as if someone had taken a large brush and painted the sunset in. the picture below does not capture the beauty of the colours.

it was an unusual evening for the kids, so they lost their steam quickly. we kissed mummo and sent her off on her adventure. bear is a little worried she is not coming back, so we'll make sure we're there to greet her upon her arrival!


happy travels everyone!

finger drama: mistakes made and lessons learned.

the other evening bear and dear hubby were in the kitchen cleaning up after dinner. bear had been really pushing the boundaries that day and by evening he was royal pain with his nonsense! then, there was an abrupt bang, then bone chilling, hair raising screams from the kitchen and dear hubby's calm words trying to console bear. bear had had his left hand smushed by a window. we have one of those old fashioned windows you push up and then prop open with a stick, and i guess the stick was teasing our three year old and so, yeah, he took out the window support and BANG! it was awful to see him in such obvious pain and i felt like a neglectful, bad parent for opening the window and propping it open like that. of course, we had talked to bear about not touching it and i think right before the incident i heard dear hubby tell bear not to touch... but, so it goes. 

we live and learn. we make mistakes, sometimes really painful ones and we move on.

luckily our family doctor has an on-call service, so after icing the fingers and giving bear a dose of acetaminophen, we decided best to call just in case we were missing something. while dear hubby chatted with the on-call doctor, bear and i sat in the playroom discussing the pained incident. he vowed never to do it again and explained that it was a mistake. my heart filled with pride listening to his profound analysis. he obviously needed to debrief the situation, just like me and it was nice to hold him and help him through the intellectual side of the incident. as the drugs kicked in and the adrenalin wore off, bear quickly fell asleep snuggled in my lap. 

without a peep or complaint all night, bear woke up in the morning in a little bit of pain, but seemed to be in good spirits. with doctor's orders from the previous evening's on-call advice, bear and i headed to our family doctor, who was luckily able to see us first thing. she had a quick look at the swollen pinky and sent us for x-rays at the local hospital. my heart sank and i got scared instantly. what would we do if the finger or hand was broken? i felt like crying. but, i held back and we headed to the hospital. there we got the x-rays done quickly without any waiting. bear was scared, but i kept whispering sweet notions into his ear which built his courage, i think. he kept his wee hand so still and moved it accordingly for each set of the pictures. again, my heart filled with such pride.

a blurry picture while waiting for the x-ray. brave bear.

finally, after waiting for almost an hour we got the all clear: NO BROKEN FINGER!

tending to our veggie garden.

in the afternoon we played outside in the backyard, always very mindful of the painful left hand. bear kept the wrist limp and never even tried to use it for anything. poor fella!

high five, bro!

look out butterflies, there's a catcher in town!

here's the damage...

the pinky is the most damaged part of his wee hand. it looks worse in real life and he wouldn't let me take a picture of it. this one i had to sneak in.