WE WERE TOGETHER

I miss you Husband. 

BIZZZZZ-Y

Last night I crawled into bed at 6:30 just after we put the kids to bed and I was asleep before 7:30. I must have really needed it and I'm so glad I did because Romilly ended up waking up a couple of times through the night to feed. 

We had a busy weekend full of birthday celebrations.  Our neighbour Livia turned three. I made her some bunting for her bedroom last week. I used some of the left over English lace I had from a class I took in Stroud to tie it all together. Adrianne went all out. She had Mini-Mouse shaped brownies and ham and cheese sandwiches for the kids' table.  We had a nice time getting to know a few of our neighbours a bit better. 

On Sunday, like most of the world, we were snuggled around the television watching the Olympic Men's hockey. It was a phenomenal game. We celebrated Canada's Gold medal with pancakes smothered in maple syrup, yum!  

 Steve went back to work today, up at 5am and at the bus stop before 6:00 Brrrr. We both survived a challenging day and were all a little emotional by the end of it. It's been awesome having Steve home with us for the last 8 months. He's not only a great husband but an exceptional father. Euan cried out Daddy and ran right to him when Steve walked through the door, it was very sweet. In the next few weeks, I am hoping to have a routine sorted out, hopefully one that involves the kids sleeping until 7:00am. Pray for me please.

Happy Monday! Xo

ENJOY TODAY

BIRTHDAY BOYS

YOU ARE NEVER

DISNEY ON ICE

My Mom bought us tickets to Disney on Ice. We all loved it. They really have something for everyone. I was over talking to a friend and I turned around to find my son smooching a princess; the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. *grin*

It was a great way to spend one of our last parental leave days together. Thanks Nanna!

COVER TITANIUM

The words.... Insane!

CAN YOU BELIEVE

Can you believe this little bug is going to be two on Friday, Feb 21. 

I read the email that I wrote for you when you were just 6 months old and looking back at it tonight brought many tears. Love you big time! xo

Euster! You are almost 6 months old. I could cry with that realization but as you probably know by now it doesn't take much to make your over emotional Momma to shed a tear. I just wanted to let you know how much you enjoy bananas and mushy peas, on our last trip to Scotland, delighted you. You met Great Aunt Margaret, this was Daddy Walker's mom's sister. There were 3 girls and 3 boys, Margaret, Mary and Great Grandma Edith. I don't know the boys' names yet but will work on that when we get back to Canada. We visited Stonehaven where Daddy Walker comes from and saw the house he spent his first years  and the outdoor air pool where he took his first swimming lessons. Unfortunately you didn't swim there this time but maybe one day you might. 

You want to feed yourself and are really good at it but sometimes  you stick your fingers in your mouth so far you gag. 

We went to Portugal and you swam in the outdoor and indoor pool and we took underwater pictures of you. (My little water baby!) In Portugal we stayed at Alba Suites carvoeiro and hotel Eva in Faro. Euan it was so beautiful and you loved it. You are such a good travel bug! 

The house is packed up, boxes everywhere and you have been sleeping in the spare room the last few nights. I tried to bring you back in our room but you get grumpy! You are an independent soul already I really hope this doesn't carry on through as I'm very attached to you and would hate to see you run away as an adult. 

You are also like Momma and only like to cuddle when you want; when I kiss you you try to stick you tongue in our mouths. Already the casa nova!! (sorry) 

Euan you are the light of my life and the best thing I've ever done!! I love you so much and feel super blessed everyday! Your smile lights up the room. I love when you try to catch strangers' attention and then reward them with a gigantic smile, you are truly a star. 

You are a real pleasure and everyone comments on what a calm baby you are. Today you are staying with Daddy while I get my hair done. You guys are going to Franco's and I told Daddy they aren't to touch your cute baby comb over!

We leave Bristol on August 16 and I will be sad to leave the place you were born but I promise we will come back one day and I will show you all the things I love about England. 

You can roll over

lock your legs and stand

sit up almost

you don't have any teeth yet but still are a drool monster

You like Sunday chicken dinner pots as we don't have a blender I've been buying you store organic. 

You love your thomas sets, bunny, lamb and big dog! 

You had your first experience touching sand at Cullen Bay Beach in Scotland when we walked from Portknockie to Cullen beach. 

Oh... we just got a piano with the intent that you play. We shall see how that shapes up. ;) It was delivered from an eccentric man named Paul from Stroud. And we were so excited when it came Daddy spent hours vacuuming out the spiders! It's beautiful!

We climbed up to Brandon Hill to see the Balloons at 630am this morning. You were sleeping and Daddy put you in the ergo. 

I love you Euan big time! xoxoxo

ALMOST 40 & ALMOST 2

We had a gorgeous JO turkey dinner in Guelph with family over this long weekend. It was an early celebration for Steve and Euan's Feb 21 birthdays. Steve's sister B brought Dufflet cakes for the boys. Everything was super yummy. Best thing about my valentine weekend was all the extra baby snuggles, our twin nephews were there. They are the cutest & sweetest preemies ever. Steve's hugging his 94 year old grandmother. It was such a special moment to take pictures with four of Chris's great-grandchildren. This is 40 Steve, I hope every year forward gives you both as much sparkle and light as I saw in your faces this weekend.

CAMP FORTUNE COOKIE

LIFE IS

DO SMALL THINGS

WW-HUNTER STYLE

DIVE UNDER

We are driving through Northern Ontario this morning. I received this message from lovely L. It's exactly what we did this morning too. We were meant to leave at four but when the alarm went off we dove under the duvet with a shutter and woke up at five. It's freezing today -29 it would have been a great duvet day. Apparently this is exactly what L did too! Thanks L for inspiring this blog post and for always keeping us close. xoxo 

LITTLE FOODIES

My Babies love their food it's the thing I think I will remember most about them at this age. Euan "snack, snack, snack, Mommy!" There has been days I have regretted teaching him the word snack. Today's snack: fresh blueberries mixed with chickpeas. "Ohhhhh, Thank you Mommy!" Romilly tried a jar of organic carrots at IKEA the other day I can still here her "gaaaaaa" with a massive smile on her face. Euan loves supper time he will walk away from anything to eat supper. As soon as we start cooking he's sitting at the table, it's precious. Now he helps prepare the meals. All of our kids love being in the kitchen and they love food. Little foodies.... Xo

BMR

We are road trippin to Blue Mountain tomorrow morning bright and early. I picked up my skis from getting sharpened & waxed this afternoon.It has been over two years since I've skied; the last ski holiday I took part in was Zermatt, Switzerland, boy what a beautiful place that was. We skied till noon everyday and then we went back to the lodge for some of the best cold beer and food I have had. Ohhh take me back to the Alps.

I know we will have a great time at Intrawest BM. Steve's Mom is meeting us there and said she doesn't mind watching the babies for a few hours while we go on a ski date. Whoop-thank you Grammy!

IN LIFE

BE MINE

You know what is more exciting then having 1 Valentine.... having three! My gorgeous husband and my sweet little love bugs! I'm  pretty excited. I may or may not have seen a Victoria Secret bag enter the house today. Bring on Valentines week! *wink*.    

 http://bit.ly/1aPcq6d

Après-Winterlude

Après-Winterlude

Crown Royal and Maple Coffee

Ottawa’s Heart and Crown pub on Preston Street gets into the Winterlude spirit, releasing drinkable creations for adult Winterluders. This year’s favourite is the Crown Royal and Maple Coffee. It mixes vanilla vodka with Crown Royal maple rye whiskey and maple syrup-infused Lavazza coffee. It is, of course, topped with real whipped cream. If you are planning a full day of Winterlude activities, I would suggest having a couple of these to kick off the day. They warm you up, right down to the tips of your Sorels.

Credit: Megan Munro

"BUMPITY BUMP BUMP, BUMPITY BUMP BUMP"

Winterlude has been a great way to get us "out and about" in the cold weather. On Thursday we bundled up tight and went over to Snowflake Kingdom at Jacques Cartier park. We tried out the snow slides. Euan and I went on the single one and then all of us (including Romilly tucked into the Ergo inside Daddy's coat) went down the group slide. "Bumpity bump bump, bumpity bump bump look at the Gillespie's go.... bumpity bump bump, bumpity bump bump, over the hills of snow". It was a lot of fun! Euan was keen on going up a few times and I was pretty impressed with his patience while waiting in the long lines.

This weekend we met Steve after his midterm and went over to Confederation Park to see some of the ice sculptures. They were extraordinary. I took pictures of my favourites. The Veterans Memorial sculpture was so detailed and heartwarming. I wish they would build a permanent one of it. After we dragged the stroller around the park we walked over to the Rink of Dreams to watch the Ottawa Skating Club put on a demonstration. I am pretty sure a few of those kids will be joining Team Canada in a few years. They put on a mesmerizing show. Those on the Rink of Dreams were not the only skaters on ice during Winterlude. I heard on the news that over 10,000 people came out to skate on the Rideau Canal this weekend; that announcement made me glad we waited until today to skate. We parked at Dow's lake and walked down to the canal. Steve and I took the kids in the double stroller and then set Euan up for a few minutes of skating, as he doesn't last long on skates. He has little intro skates that you strap on to his boots. This was his second time trying the skates out and he did great on them.

It's safe to say I love Winterlude!

LOVE YOUR LIFE

BBC CAKE

Husband made this BBC Easy Chocolate Cake. It is killer! 

Here is the recipe.... 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/easy_chocolate_cake_31070

SLIGHTLY STRANGE

EVERY CHILD...

 A friend posted this article written by Alicia Bayer on Facebook. It was a worthy read. I have been having some child rearing anxiety. This article put some of that anxiety at ease. I try not to read too much parenting literature but when great mothers suggest reading material I'm happy to follow their suggestion. Here is an insert from the post.  Enjoy! LLBC xo 

Every child learns to walk, talk, read and do algebra at his own pace and that it will have no bearing on how well he walks, talks, reads or does algebra.

That the single biggest predictor of high academic achievement and high ACT scores is reading to children. Not flash cards, not workbooks, not fancy preschools, not blinking toys or computers, but mom or dad taking the time every day or night (or both!) to sit and read them wonderful books.

That being the smartest or most accomplished kid in class has never had any bearing on being the happiest. We are so caught up in trying to give our children “advantages” that we’re giving them lives as multi-tasked and stressful as ours. One of the biggest advantages we can give our children is a simple, carefree childhood.

That our children deserve to be surrounded by books, nature, art supplies and the freedom to explore them. Most of us could get rid of 90% of our children’s toys and they wouldn’t be missed, but some things are important– building toys like legos and blocks, creative toys like all types of art materials (good stuff), musical instruments (real ones and multicultural ones), dress up clothes and books, books, books. (Incidentally, much of this can be picked up quite cheaply at thrift shops.)

They need to have the freedom to explore with these things too– to play with scoops of dried beans in the high chair (supervised, of course), to knead bread and make messes, to use paint and play dough and glitter at the kitchen table while we make supper even though it gets everywhere, to have a spot in the yard where it’s absolutely fine to dig up all the grass and make a mud pit.

That our children need more of us. We have become so good at saying that we need to take care of ourselves that some of us have used it as an excuse to have the rest of the world take care of our kids. Yes, we all need undisturbed baths, time with friends, sanity breaks and an occasional life outside of parenthood. But we live in a time when parenting magazines recommend trying to commit to 10 minutes a day with each child and scheduling one Saturday a month as family day. That’s not okay! Our children don’t need Nintendos, computers, after school activities, ballet lessons, play groups and soccer practice nearly as much as they need US.

They need fathers who sit and listen to their days, mothers who join in and make crafts with them, parents who take the time to read them stories and act like idiots with them. They need us to take walks with them and not mind the slow pace of a toddler on a spring night. They deserve to help us make supper even though it takes twice as long and makes it twice as much work. They deserve to know that they’re a priority for us and that we truly love to be with them.

IF you would like to read the entire article go HERE

Alicia Bayer

TIFFANY VALENTINE APP

Not quite, but close to the setting of my engagement four years ago to my Love. 

Tiffany's has created a Send A Tiffany Valentine App. It's utterly adorable. You choose your characters and  cityscape and then style yourselves. Have a go.... HERE  Valentines is upon us! xoxo

STILL MIND STILL

 Yesterday on our drive home from the museum of nature I felt dizzy and nauseous. I've been in bed  pretty much since. Husband has taken amazing care of me and the kids since then- thank you hunny.  I believe it started off as motion sickness and went straight to congestion and a sore throat. (feels like strep.)

We have a lot of dates on the calendar this month and I have no time to be sick. I'm doing as little as possible today, in hopes I'll be right as rain for tomorrow night. We are seeing Peter Katz- Still Mind Still at The Black Sheep Inn. Oh he makes beautiful music. * huge grin *

Romilly has been sucessfully sleeping through the night after her last feed at 6:00 It's given me time time to go out and have some time. My little lady bug has been on solids for a month now and she is loving it. We've been feeding her all sorts of yummies.

Fingers crossed she is good for the sitter tomorrow night. It is our first time leaving her with anyone but family. The plan is to wear her out tomorrow so she will fall into a deep sleep- wish us luck! xo

GROUNDHOG

Last I saw of our groundhog he was sunbathing on my back deck until I put a massive rock in his new home. Now he sunbathes on my neighbors deck. Point is I didn't see him today but heard on the news we are looking at six more weeks of winter. Since I don't quite fit into my summer clothes yet I'm totally OK with this. Happy Groundhog Day! xo

INVINCIBLE SUMMER

A PINCH AND A PUNCH FOR THE FIRST OF THE MONTH

Happy February! xoxo

OCT 21, 2013 SHE IS LOVED

At night when the city slept,

A dreamer roamed  the sky,

Looking for one to catch his eye.

Some are dark, while some are fair,

While some have gorgeous long blonde hair,

Once found, he checked the great fit,

Of eye colour, politics, sex and good humour

(Green, close, yes! and smiling),

Of children, family philosophy and passing a true rumour

(6!, supportive and careful).

He says, I am lucky, I have found a beauty, a light

Of inspiration, of love.  One that keeps me focused,

And true to my previously hidden feelings.  She is

Strong and passionate, abiding no nonsense.  Gorgeous and

Devoted to her family and friends, she is quick to respond, and always there. 

A focus of many. 

She is loved.