a sleepy but sunshiny season

The past month has flown by, and once more, S has, too.  Though rather than flying, he tries to take the cheaper, more enviro-friendly means of train or bus travel.  It seems like it was just last week that he arrived home off the train from Montreal, but three quick weeks have gone by.  As of this morning, he is off by Greyhound to Toronto for another three weeks.  Ug.  Sadly, our time together in between was occupied with work demands (finishing up the book) and then trying to get over our sinus and chest infections.  All of us have been under the weather and it's been a time of much fatigue in our house - for all but A, our hearty child!

Many of the weekends found either S trying to keep the kids out of the house so I could rest, or me doing the same so he could work.   A few weeks ago, I took the kids out to look for Mother's Day things to mail our grandmothers.  Had no luck, but it did provide me with a laugh at how crazy being a mom can be.  We went to the local Etsy craft sale and the kids were behaving quite well.  Stopping to admire some amazing hand-made soap, I was interrupted by Iz screaming beside me.  That quadrant of the building seemingly went into slow motion as people stared to see what was happening while I tried to figure it out myself.  Iz was clawing her face, yelling, gagging and it seemed a long moment before I put two and two together.  On the table in front, the soap seller had filled disposable latte cups with bath salts topped with a bath scrubby (instead of whipped cream) and a little red soap (for a cherry) with a straw sticking out.  Kind of looked like this:

Not quite, but it was appealing enough that impulsively Iz had decided to suck on one of the straws!  Making the connection to the cups and the anguished child, I had her spit in my hand while we rushed out to find a water fountain.  Once we seemed out of danger and she was more calmly drinking water, I burst out laughing as to why she would think to do it.  Even if the cups hadn't been filled with salts, its not like they were hers!!  Oh well, we avoided that seller's table afterward and I didn't mind the stares I got.  Some things, I don't understand myself, so why should I expect strangers to!  Afterward, we went to a new-to-us park along the Red River and enjoyed seeing how high it was flowing.  We walked alongside a beautiful old cemetery where the kids entertained passerbyers as they had me read out tombstone details.  They wanted to know names of parents and children, how old people were when they died, how long they'd been married and other such info.  My favourite comments:  "Aw, I miss all these old dead people.  I feel sad that I never knew them."  "When you die, Ai, I'm going get you a tombstone shaped like a giant engine if I have enough money.  Make mine a cat or a super big cross."  I shouldn't have been surprised that throughout the next week, they were playing "cemetery."  No surprise, too, that the times other kids were over, they had no idea how to participate in such play!  

Speaking of Mother's Day and cemeteries, my Mom had it a bit rough having a birthday fall on Remembrance Day.  I hope she had as much of a laugh as we did when as teenagers we discovered the old birthday cards we'd made.  Being the younger of the three, I don't take as much responsibility for the fact they were decked out with poppies and tombstones that said, "R.I.P."  Rob's topped it, as he signed his cards, "From Robert Newsham."  Just to make sure she knew exactly which Robert.  I wonder how we grew to be such sentimental people, as you'd have never guessed we would be by our childhood expressions of affection . . . 

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Spring has arrived at last.  With a rainy weekend, the leaves came out over the past few days and the grass is wonderfully green!  We've enjoyed many outings to parks once again and have loved having bikes as our main form of transportation.  A has been slow to want to ride a pedal bike, as she can keep up so well running her bike alongside me through the city.  I insisted that she start using her big bike with training wheels, but she was reluctant for me to take them off.  As is, the way she learned to ride was just perfect.  Riding across a school ground, one of the training wheels came off of its own accord.  Unknowingly, she kept riding as I picked it up off the ground and then ran to pick up the other one which had also come off for some reason!!  At the end of the field, she turned around to wait and saw me holding both wheels.  Surprised, she then had confidence that she could do it and has been out on the front sidewalk happily riding each afternoon.  We all needed that, as I'd told the younger two that I wouldn't teach them until big sister got the hang of it first!  All in our own good time we learn.  :) It was a delight for her to call Omi & Opa and my parents that evening to surprise them over Skype with me holding the computer so they could see her on the sidewalk.  

And incidentally, riding her bike out front has allowed her to meet neighbourhood friends at last!  Three older girls live just around us and somehow they emerged after a year and a half of us not knowing they were there!!  Suddenly we've entered a new stage where our house is the main gathering place after school each afternoon with girls running back and forth, up and down.  It's lovely to see A happy with friends, but Ai and Iz are feeling a little left out by their big sis (and I'm not so keen on the noise level!).  Reminds me of what it must have been like for my mom when my siblings and I all had friends over daily.  

We've been enjoying getting to know some folks at church a bit better lately.  Was a bonus to go to a BBQ at our neighbour's and discover Ben and Addy from Sunday School (who usually are too shy to play).  We'd just run into them at a playground after church and the kids had played three hours together, so they really clicked that evening.  Sunday's are now even more rambunctious than they were.  S and I laughed that when sick us decided to leave after church and not stay for Sunday School, we had our kids crying as we left because they wanted to stay!  We'll likely look back when they're teenagers reluctant to go and wish we'd stuck it out . . . 

Early May also marked the birthday of a special friend, so I enjoyed celebrating Chantal along with two of our mutual friends.  I impressed them by ordering beet salad instead of dessert, since I've been on a sugar, dairy and gluten free diet this month.  (They wouldn't be impressed today however, as I snuck an ice cream treat and I have indulged here and there over the past week.  Sigh).

Last week, Salem joined us for a play date and after picking up Ai from school, we went for a picnic at the zoo.  He and Ai are close friends, but wonderfully, Iz fits in nicely to the trio and it was a wonderful afternoon out.  

The visiting South African penguins brought lots of laughs while they swam.  So cute!

 Afterward, they enjoyed play in the dirt piles at home.  Fortunately, as of today, we now have sod out in front so our street isn't looking so dumpy.  But it was fun while it lasted . . .

So while being sick hasn't been super fun, hands down its way easier to manage during nice weather when one can at least get out of the house without fear of contaminating other people.  It's such a gift to have the sun and its warmth, the grass and its green.  Thankfully, we're on the mend as my sister, Susan, and niece, Nora, arrive tomorrow for a visit!  I predict chocolate, movies and lots of fun in the week ahead!  At least the last things, if only a smidgeon of chocolate for me.  The diet has certainly been helping with gallstone pain, so I need to keep it up . . .