Headwaters.

F.U.N

At the dinner table.

Rhys: F!

(I look over and see that he’s arranged his sausages into the letter ‘F’)

Bria: Why F?

Rhys: For FRIEND!

James and Bria singing in unison: F – is for friends who do stuff together. U is for you and me! N is for anytime and anywhere at all…down here in the deep blue sea!

 

For those of you who don’t know the reference…

 

Have I ever mentioned that our goal as parents is to embarass our children with every chance we get? They’re just gonna LOVE us when they hit those teen years.

Shower.

I usually have a shower between 6:45 and 7:15 in the morning.

This is apparently when everyone else in the building takes their shower.

The water temperature changes every15 seconds.

It’s irritating.

Quiet.

This old blog has been fairly quiet these days, hasn’t it?

It’s not that I find myself suddenly at a stand-still with nothing interesting to write about, far from it in fact, the truth is there is much going on behind the scenes (too much if you ask me). With a few things it feels as though I don’t quite have the words to describe what I’m experiencing and with a few other things I’m just not ready to share. Which is okay, processing is important.

I’ve not been feeling very well lately either, so that’s made it harder to find the motivation to get on here and write about my days.

But don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about my blog. I’m excited for the day when the words start flowing again and I’m able to clearly relate to y’all what’s going on in my life.

Sound good?

These Days.

My mind has been going a million miles a minute. I’d like to shut it off but that is easier said than done. This is normal for me, but these past few weeks it’s been in a bit of overdrive.

Despite our lives having been changed so drastically in the past few months, and all of the stresses that came and have lingered as a result, it feels like James and I are doing well. We are growing into an even deeper friendship with each other and our children. It’s difficult to adjust to so many upheavals all at once, but you just have to take it one day at a time.

Rhys is slowly doing better at his new school. He had a few rough weeks where he was acting out in class and then crying because he missed his friends and his old school, it was really hard to watch. I had a few phone calls from his teacher, but I think that things are improving. He’s slowly making some connections with a couple of boys in his class which is what will make all the difference to him liking his new school or not. He’s also been writing letters back and forth to his old class so at least he’s keeping in touch with some friends.

There’s still loads of work still to be done on/at our house. Spring break is here and guess how I’ll be spending it? Yup, packing up the house! I’m anticipating spending every single day at our old place, sorting garbage, keepers and thrift store items. I’m trying to tackle it one room at a time because if I look at it as a whole then I just want to curl-up into the fetal position and hide in a hole.

Anyways, that’s what’s going on these days. I feel pretty busy, but it’s getting easier every day!

Saturday Mornings.

One of my favorite times during the week is Saturday mornings. Not because I get to stay in my cozy jammie-jams and curl-up in my nice warm bed (although that does sound lovely) but because I wake-up bright and early, grab the kids and their gear (and a timmies) and take them to soccer. I LOVED soccer when I was a kid. I played in Charleswood and was so disappointed when my parents stopped signing me up…but now I get to enjoy it from a whole different perspective! Amelia has soccer at 9 and Rhys has soccer at 10 so I sit for two hours and watch my kids learn how to pass, kick, head-bump and dribble. I can’t explain how much I love sitting on the bench and seeing them do something they love, and seeing them excel at it too! Soccer is such a great sport for kids to play, it’s physically demanding and helps kids learn how to work as a team and respect a coach.

Rhys started playing with Phoenix Soccer Club just over a year ago. It’s not your average ‘let the kids kick a ball around for an hour and go nuts’ type of class, although there’s nothing wrong with that. Phoenix is part of the WYSA and employs a very talented staff year-round who’s goals are to pump-out the best soccer players in Canada. I originally signed him up because the classes were cheap and close-by, but I’ve kept him on (even after we moved across the city) because James and I are so thoroughly impressed with the level of play they are able to achieve at such a young age. The coaches make if fun, inventing age-appropriate games while still focusing on drills and skills.

Rhys knows what he likes and what his strengths are; he wants to learn french and he wants to play soccer. So we’ve put him in an amazing French Immersion school and an amazing soccer club that he can play with all the way through until he graduates (if he so chooses). Amelia couldn’t take sitting on the sidelines watching her brother have fun without her so we signed her up for the Mini-Kickers program. She came to the store and picked-out all of her soccer gear and now, between soccer and pre-school, life is looking-up for my little girl.  

Sitting there on the bench for those two hours are good for me and my kids. I’m forced to sit and take a break from the stresses of the day-to-day. I can’t get-up and leave to get things done. I can’t do laundry or dishes or paperwork. My kids see me there, watching them and cheering them on. I’m their little fan-club for those two hours and I think that it’s important for them to see that. They know that I’m focused on them and not on a million other things, and that’s good.

I would never have guessed that I’d be such a proud soccer mom.

Diversity.

My sister works as a Sous Chef for Diversity at the UofW. I’ve had privilege of eating at both the university cafeteria and their new restaurant Elements (located in the beautiful science building on Portage) and both have been extremely tasty. I thought this was an interesting clip on Diversity’s ideas and motivations regarding the food they use, where it comes from and why they’ve decided to go against the grain. Feel free to watch and leave your thoughts.