Give up and go home

This is one of my favourite Hope stories recently... I don't know where she picks things up, but this one made me laugh until I cried...

I was driving with Hope to pick Grace up from our babysitter's house.
Hope: "Mama, you turned the wrong way"
Me: "No I didn't sweety..."
Hope: "Yes you did!"
Me: "No, I really didn't"
Hope: "YES, YOU DID"
Me: (thinking) seriously? I'm arguing with a (then) 2 year old?
Hope: "Just give up and go home Mommy. Give up and go home..."

Perhaps she's destined to have a career as the voice on a GPS? ;)

Resurrection

Hello? Anybody out there? No? Phew!

Well, here I am after 14+ months away... A lot has happened in that time! Shortly after my last post, hubby and I decided to go look at a house. We weren't really looking to buy a house, but we went to the open house, decided it felt "right" and bought it. Two months later we moved in, and since have been learning to joys and struggles of home ownership... I'm sure you'll hear all about it one of these days.

Hope is now 3 and in preschool locally. She is an incredible little girl with a huge heart and is very smart. Every day with her is full of laughs and excitement. I am so blessed.

Grace is almost 18 months old now. She is walking and starting to talk, she is SO MUCH TROUBLE! Persistent, energetic and curious, Grace keeps me on my toes! She has this smile and giggle that make you forgive anything... even if it is icing sugar all over my clean kitchen floor...

So, from here on out is a chance for me write about my life with 2 amazing kids, who's antics I hope make you laugh as much as they do for me!

Until next time... which hopefully isn't next year...

Yes, I am still alive (barely)

Okay, after a long absence I am back!  The reason I've been away?  Hope.  She's suddenly realized that she's almost 2 and has decided that until now my life has been way too uneventful.

Here's an example from today...

Picture this:
I'm sitting downstairs having just settled Grace after a feeding.  Hope has gone upstairs to (presumably) play in her room, something she is allowed to do.  When I suddenly hear banging and yelling from upstairs, I automatically think "Hope has shut herself in a room - likely Grace's."  I head upstairs to let her out, but when I get up there I notice Grace's door is open.  I check the other doors - all open.  It slowly dawns on me that the noise is coming from Hope's bathroom, and she's yelling "it's hot! it's hot!" I get in there to discover the following:  Hope, naked from the waist down, in her bathtub (having brought a stool in the help her climb in), turning the water on and off.  Unfortunately she doesn't know how to adjust temperature, hence the "it's hot!"
I asked her what she was doing, she responds "I bath!"
It took nearly 45 minutes to convince her to get out (and to stop laughing)...  looks like she's learned something new, and also looks like I'm going to have to invest in door handle locks for the bathrooms...

Oh Hope, how I love you.

Hopisms: Owies, Broken and Stuck(en)

These are three of Hope's favourite words...

First of all, owies.  Because I get a lot of blood work done, Hope frequently asks me "owies?" and insists I show her the inside of my elbow so she can inspect.   She also seems to have frequent owies of her own, all of which require a kiss better (until of course she told her dad that she had 'owies' on her bottom...)  

"Broken" has become a catch-all word for Hope.  If something is broken, it's broken (we all nod our heads);  if a page is ripped in a book, it's broken; if Hope can't get at something she wants, it's broken; if there's a button (or something that looks like a button) and nothing happens when Hope hits it, it's broken; if Hope doesn't like something we put in the shopping cart, it's broken; etc.  Today Hope pointed at her belly button and said 'it's broken'...  I'm still not sure what prompted it to be broken.... maybe it falls under the button rule previously mentioned.  Currently 'broken' is still in the cute phase... I wonder if that will change...

Stuck means virtually the same as broke, but only applies to things that Hope can't get at, can't free or when she is stuck somewhere.  The funniest thing about stuck is that she assumes it works the same as 'broke'.  As in she'll say broke/stuck and also broken/stucken.   I laugh so hard when she says "it's stucken!"

While I wrote this post, Hope reminded me of her many other favourite words...  uck!, byebyes, poop, and babies to name a few...  Someday soon I'll write about those, I now have to go deal with "I poop!"

Experiencing Autumn

Bruce and I decided to take last weekend to jet up to our favourite place - my parents' cabin on a little island a couple of hours away.  The weather was perfect and I was stunned (once again) by the incredible beauty of this amazing place I get to call home...
Here are some of our pictures:

Walking around the point of 'our' bay

Can you spot our dog? "faster than a speeding bullet!"

Hope - Makes my heart melt

Everyone needs to splash in a tidal pool now and again!

Proof that Grace was there too

Love at the beach

Experiencing joy in such a simple way...

When's the last time you rolled up your pants and walked in the surf?  Or jumped in a puddle? Something else so simply peaceful/silly/joyful?  I challenge to you to take the time to enjoy your world with the eyes of a child: innocently, freely, for the first time all over again.  It will do your heart some good!

Loves Music, Loves to Dance

Hope LOVES music; loves singing, loves doing actions to songs, loves dancing.

There are few things I love more than watching Hope dance, and she will dance to anything!  Commercials on the TV, worship at Church, hip hop on the radio, the washing machine (no joke), and mommy's singing are all favourites. 

She loves to twirl, do knee bends, swing her hips and shake her head to the beat.  Such a joyous response to music!  The other night, however, I was shocked to see her *new* dance move.  My mother was visiting and we were watching Glee (please don't judge!).  Hope got into the music and decided to climb onto the coffee table to dance.  Against my better judgement I let her stay up there because she was so cute!  Next thing I know she's on her hands and knees, swinging her head back and forth like a... a...  well, you (probably) get the idea.  Once the shock wore off I nearly died laughing! 

Where do kids learn this stuff?  Should I be afraid already?  What behaviours have your kids shocked you with?

Sick Days...

One of the issues I've never been able to figure out is how a mom takes a 'sick day'.  My husband gets sick, doesn't feel up to working, so he stays home in bed and gets better.  How do moms do that?  It's not like we can call in sick or just not show up...  Can you imagine?  *Picturing Hope banging on my bedroom door... "Mom? Mom?" and me responding "Sorry, I'm not well enough to be your mom today!"*

Now Bruce is awesome, and tries to help out more when I'm sick, but he doesn't feel he can just take off work to help me.  So I've been sick for a week now... a yucky stomach flu/head cold combination.  My house is falling into a state of disarray and meals are becoming less and less nutritious.  I need a day off to rest and get better!  And then I need a day off to find my house.  And then a day to meal plan and grocery shop. 

So tell me Supermoms... how do you do it?  I need help (and sleep) (and a shower).  Too much information?