feels like spring...

...inside at least!

Had some fun with the camera this morning- the house was looking lovely and bright and springlike in the sunshine.

Could he get that armchair any closer to the tv? (I hadn't noticed- too busy playing with camera settings and angles)

A corner of our kitchen- just some of the distant friends we miss. And my weekly planning whiteboard. (Looks more organised than I really am)

Le soleil brille. A new verb learned in my french class last week :)

Tadhg helping himself to Brendan's post art camp lunch. A second lunch is never a problem a Tadhg.

5 years old

Happy Birthday Brendan!

 

It certainly doesn't seem like five years since Brendan was born- at least not when I'm thinking about his birth and those precious first few days. I remember that all so clearly, of course. But some other periods since then are a little more hazy- sleep deprivation and all that :) But all in all it has been the most amazing five years and watching him grow and change has been such a joy. I really should write more on here about how they are growing up day to day. His creativity is just blowing me away at the moment. And how gentle and caring he is (though not always when it comes to disagreements with his brother) and his curiosity about so many things that interest him ("tell me more mummy") and the way he sometimes loves to stay at home all day and move between drawing, writing, lego building, riding his scooter around the house, dictating stories for me to write, reading "about the world" with the occasional trip outside to check for eggs or water his spinach. This boy is soooo cool.

 The boys and their Daddy killing time at the park before going to see a movie. Turned out the movie wasn't on after all so we went bowling for the first time instead. They had a good time but both lost interest before the game was over, which Steve and I were a bit miffed about as we were enjoying the competition. (I would have won!)

Here's the birthday boy "reading" about the Octonauts to his wee brother while I put the finishing touches on the Octopod cake.

For those who don't know, the Octopod is home to the Octonauts, a team of characters who Explore! Rescue! and Protect! the ocean and its creatures. It's an animated TV adaptation of the Japanese storybooks. There is a caring penguin medic, a polar bear captain, an adventurous pirate cat, a geeky sea-otter scientist, a chilled out and clever bunny engineer, a smart grandfatherly octopus professor and... I think I'm missing someone. Brendan to the rescue- I forgot the photographer- a dog. Oh, and the weird half-tuna-half-cabbage characters who grow the food and cook. Wikipedia says the "subject matter is reminiscent of a blend of Star Trek and Jacques Cousteau" - right up my street! But the creatures they meet are real marine animals so we learn something interesting from each episode. I like it a lot, although having seen each of the 50 or so episodes at least 5 times each means I'll be ready to move on to the next obsession when it reveals itself.

 So here's the cake. He was very happy with it, despite the absence of the characters. Thankfully he didn't notice that until we had eaten half of it. Belle the Cat claimed the bottom left pod as her own by licking off the icing when we weren't looking.

Birthdays

Tadhg had asked for a "green monster cake with one eye" and had reminded me every day for about a week- so this was the resulting effort. We had a wee party with three friends over for a couple of games and food.

Tadhg was leaning over the cake so that I couldn't get a good photo of the whole thing. I said, "let me see the tongue" so he leaned back and stuck his tongue out.

A few days later, with Paddy, Caitlin and Billy in the house, we lit the candle fire and tidied up while waiting for Steve to come home from work on his birthday. I was really excited because I had caved in and bought a bigger telly for him. It was a genuine surprise because I have been so anti-TV, let alone BIG TV, pretty much since we met, so he never thought we'd get one! It's not HUGE, so I'll still be able to sort out a cabinet or curtain or something to hide it :) For the moment, it was necessary to butcher the current cabinet in order to fit the telly on it...

The surprise ski mountain cake was made by my lovely Polish friend Monika. It was very well made with special little touches and was absolutely delicious. There were better photos on Caitlin's camera- I will try to remember to add them.

Thumbs up at being 40? Or just cake approval?

Strawberry picking

Here are a few pictures from our strawberry picking outing last week. This is the first organic strawberry U-pick in this area and it belongs to relatives of a friend of ours. We went along with a group of our friends and picked (and ate) lots and lots of berries before having a picnic together. Every special day like this is all the more important because we're going so soon now.

A baking day

We tried out a few cookie recipes for our christmas baking. We made orange and raisin cookies, chocolate chip and some sugar cookies. Brendan did a great job of decorating the sugar cookies but of course he had to try everything. I was surprised he wasn't sick.

Here he is checking out the results. I said smile and this was what I got!

In the afternoon we went out to walk off some of the sugar, but it was a little late by the time we finished up the baking and got kitted up in all our winter gear (I hate these temperatures) so Brendan was exhausted. He didn't want to go in the buggy but wouldn't walk either. We got to the end of the road and had to turn back. Nevermind, it was enough fresh air to help everyone have a good nap, me included.

The Garden Party

Last weekend we hosted a garden party to celebrate nothing in particular, just for a good time. With all the hard work as mentioned in the previous blog post, it was well worth it.

All said and done, we had 26 adults and 18 kids of all ages. The party started off with drinks and nibbles placed around the house. Once everyone more or less arrived, I invited all the kids to come for a swim in the pool. At one point, I think I had 14 kids in the pool. I'll just describe it as organized pandemonium. None the less, it was loads of fun for us all.

By the time the kids where dried off, it was time to eat. Siobhan wanted everything freshly homemade so here's a list...

Spicy chick pea salad,
Three bean salad with a french dressing,
Tossed green salad with blue cheese,
Another green salad without cheese,
Three dressings- balsamic, lemon goat cheese and french
Coleslaw,
Hummus, curry dip and salsa for dipping vegetables and pita bread,
Four big french loaves tied with parchment paper and string with different sandwich fillings:
Brie, ham and lettuce,
Roasted vegetables and hummus,
Brie and tomato,
Ham and cheddar,
(So people could cut whatever sized piece they wanted)
Summer berry mini-tarts,
Apple and blackberry pie and
Homemade mango and strawberry ice lollies.

The only annoying thing is that we totally forgot about taking a picture of the spread we had out. Oh well, such is life. We were obviously too busy having fun with our guests.

Here is a picture of the pool with all the kids and me having fun. (Note Brendan's naked bottom at the bottom :)

We should do this more often because we really enjoy having lots of people over. The last few left around 8.30 after a board game. And we found some more people who might join us on future canoeing trips.

Happenings in June

Want to catch up before we head of to the Fiddlers on the Tobique festival this weekend so this one will be a list.

- Lovely lupins everywhere. I've stopped the car a few times and picked big bunches for the house. I have no qualms about picking lupins simply because there are so many of them.

- Brendan has been nappy free during the day for a week now. I realised it was me that was holding the process up when he said "do a wee wee mummy?" and I said "no, darling, do it in your nappy" because I had just strapped Tadhg into the car and wanted to get home. Poor Brendan. So I grabbed the bull by the horns from that day on and made more of an effort.

- Tadhg is eating everything he's offered now. Main foods so far are toast and butter or humous, pasta, all sorts of veg, apples and bananas and melon, melon, melon. I've mixed rice cereal with fruit for breakfast a couple of times but am generally avoiding anything processed or even pureed by me. It's a much easier (and lazier) way of feeding a baby.

- Steve has nearly finished his first two courses. Exams today and then a two week respite before it all starts again. Good Luck in the exams Steve!!
Time for a photo. Not a great picture but I just love the emotions it rouses in me. I love seeing my boys all laughing and playing together. Lots of fun times ahead!


- We are loving the garden. And the best thing about growing your own? I don't bother to wash the lettuce. I hate washing lettuce. So far the lettuce, radishes and herbs have been really tasty. Fresh herbs almost every day. Just need the bugs to disappear now.

- Cycled all the way into town the other day. Took an hour and 10 mintues to get to the small craft aquatic centre where we had a picnic and threw rocks in the water. We have a bike trailer that a friend kindly lent/gave us and it is perfect for the boys. Tadhg slept all the way and Brendan and I chatted about what we saw on the way. I was pooped because it was a very hot day (not to mention that I am dangerously unfit at the moment) so we phoned our backup and Steve duly arrived to take us home. He then decided to cycle home, I think just to see what it was like, so we swapped vehicles and he got home in half the time.

- I'm now vice president of Birth Matters and am currently trying to rustle up some people to walk in the Canada Day Parade here in Fredericton for a spot of awareness raising and public education.

- CISV is back in full swing with the Austrian delegation arriving on the 10th July. I'm not involved too much as the families and the leader have it all under control so I just have to do the odd thing here and there but will help out when the Austrians arrive. I've also volunteered to help with a regular activity during the next school year that brings 11/12 year old kids from CISV and the Multicultural Association together.

- And I've joined the Breastfeeding Promotion Committee. More on that later as I'm just finding out what it involves.

- Lastly, Steve and Brendan have been enjoying the pool. Brendan is a bit slow to get in but then it takes a lot of convincing and bribery to get him out. Tadhg and I are yet to venture in. That might have to wait for the temperature to rise a few degrees.

Tadhg and green beans

We've been reading a bit about 'baby-led weaning' which is basically just a fancy term for the way I would do it instinctively anyway. But I have come across some good info on things like what to use instead of commercial baby cereals and how babies start solid food in cultures that are less driven by the media and corporate advertising. It just doesn't feel right buying pricey, processed, packaged "food" that tastes yukky when the rest of us are eating lovely fresh food.

Basically our plan is to not have a plan and just go with the flow. If he's interested he can try. As long as it's fresh and softish and he can pick it up. Anyway, here's a video of his attempt at eating green beans.
We weren't going to actively encourage this because of our upcoming trip (see future blog post) but he seems to love it so we won't hold him back!

Blogger isn't letting me attach the video so I'll try again later. Here's a photo instead.

Midwifery is catching!

Midwifery is new to New Brunswick. At the moment there are still no midwives in the province but hopefully there soon will be! Legislation passed last year, and the government is now working on setting things up so that the Midwifery Act can be proclaimed, thereby allowing midwifery to be integrated into the publicly funded health system.

Since the day I found out I was pregnant with Brendan, when I immediately started to read about pregnancy and birth, a passion has been growing and growing inside me. I feel so strongly that it is every woman's right to be able to (at least try) to birth the way she wants to.
There are oh so many things wrong with the whole culture surrounding pregnancy and birth in our society- to the point where many of the practices that are now considered "normal" or "progressive" or the "safest" are almost barbaric when you really look at them. And I am certainly not anti-hospital or bothered by doctors or radical in any way. (Well, not really, although I totally understand those who are and where they're coming from.)

So every so often I've thought "I should do something about this". I've thought about breastfeeding support work, about birth prep classes and various other ways to help. I came across Birth Matters over a year ago and went to a couple of events they put on. Anyway, long story short, I'm now directing some of that energy into this group and trying to help with it's work.

Birth Matters is a non profit group that was initially set up to lobby the government to legislate midwifery, and is now working on putting pressure on them to follow through in a timely fashion as well as trying to encourage all the stakeholders to communicate and work together. We also want to be able to influence the way in which the midwifery model will actually work and how it will be implemented. Lots to do!

The website has more info if anyone wants to look.
A core group of 5 or so has been working on various things over the past couple of years but there seems to be a bit more momentum as we approach the date the government set for midwifery implementation. Last week I helped write a press release and a letter to the editor for our local papers.. We got a front page story last week too! We are now asking the government to be more transparent and to give regular updates on the progress. There are understandably a whole bunch of things that need to be set up. More on that later...

Last week we received a letter from the Health Minister inviting Birth Matters to nominate someone to stand on the newly created Midwifery Council of New Brunswick. We have a few people interested so tonight we're meeting to discuss it.
Thought I should include a relevant photo. Well this is close. It's not a newborn baby, but here is Tadhg having his very first taste of solid food. He managed to pick up some sweet potato and get it in his mouth but then spat most of it out and smeared it around the place. We're going to do more hands on, help yourself foods from earlier this time. Finger foods and a huge variety of tastes seems to have worked well for Brendan. (I shouldn't tempt fate but he hasn't been 'fussy' yet)

Lollies and paints

A couple of things we've been up to. We made smoothies and lollipops from the left over tropical fruit that I didn't quite manage to make into a fruit salad in time for the Sri Lanka night. Everyone was fairly stuffed anyway so it may not have been eaten. Brendan loved this mango lolly made with mango, orange juice, some yogurt and a little bit of sugar.
I look HUGE in this photo but I still love it. Here's Tadhg hangin out on my lap while I dream and doodle about this year's gardening plans in our new gardening diary that Steve put together. The first of the seeds are planted and a bunch of others from old seed packets are being tested to see if they might still have some life in them. I'm sure updates from the garden will be a regular feature of the blog this spring and summer. Too many ideas and not enough time, space or money to achieve them all. We'll do our best!We also went back to the clay cafe again, this time with about twenty other friends, little and large. Tadhg spent much of the time being ignored in the centre of the table (Not really, everyone gave him lots of attention but he is so easy going that I just about forget he's there sometimes :))
That's it for now. Steve is entertaining Tadhg while I get this post done before bed and I hear lots of giggles so want to go and join in the fun.

Almost forgot, I wanted to write about something that happened last night. For a few minutes I'm sure I was the happiest, most blissful mummy in the whole world. Brendan, Tadhg and I were all in bed, Tadhg in the middle. I lay on my side facing my two babies, who both stared back at me with such beautiful, peaceful faces and listened intently while I sang to them. Then Brendan sort of curled himself around Tadhg as I do when we sleep, and he put one arm around the top of Tadhg's head and stroked my hair, and with the other hand he played with Tadhg's fingers. It was the sweetest thing I've ever seen. Absolutely perfect. There was so much love oozing between us and I could see the future stretched out in front of us and all the good times we're going to have. The only thing that would have made it more perfect than perfect would have been if Steve was there too. Alas, he was off flying around having fun somewhere. Plenty more times like that to come though.
Soppy, but hey, this blog is for recording these things. Good night now.

muffin tins and snow

Brendan with his muffin tin lunch. This is the second one we've done and he loves it. Got the idea from a flickr photo.
L-R, back to front: cucumber, red pepper, crackers, raisins, yogurt, spicy humus, ham, homemade apple/oatmeal flapjack, cheese, strawberries, grapes, tangerine.

Had another snowstorm over the last couple of days. Here's the snow on our back deck at sunrise yesterday. With the cold, snowy weather we've been staying in bit more than usual so have needed a couple of things to do. This is one of them. We have a strange space at the bottom of our stairs that isn't really useful for anything... it's too small for furniture, too carpeted for muddy boots and wet clothes and doesn't have a window for doing arts and crafts. So I claimed it a while back as a place to dump all my arts and craft "stuff". I put up a shelf, built that bookcase and put everything in there but have just managed to organise it all. So this is how it looks now and I really like spending time in there.