I'm in need of a fresh start so I made the decision to leave this blog behind and start a new one.
I'm now blogging over at : "Searching For Kermit" . Come on over and say hi! :)
Cheers!
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Wants vs. Needs
I always wanted to be one of those women who was completely fulfilled by her role as wife and mother. I worked very hard for many years, trying to stuff myself into that role and be happy with it. Since becoming a mommy I've gone through several 'dark periods', where I struggle with depression and feelings of unworthiness.
I've been experiencing the same thing for the past several months now.
What it really boils down to is the fact that I'm not satisfied with just being a wife and mommy. I wanted that, and I tried so hard to be it. I thought that the problem was that I just wasn't trying hard enough. I can see now that there isn't really a "problem", just reality. And the reality is that I need more in my life, that I need more things that are just for me, that are outside of being a wife and mommy.
Despite what I may want, I'm stopping to take a look at what I actually need. The two aren't necessarily the same.
The fact that Emma is getting older is really making me think about the fact that I'm not always going to have these girls of mine. They're not even really "mine", since we can't "have" another person. I've simply been entrusted with the responsibility of nurturing and protecting them, and helping them to become the people that they are meant to be.
And while I'm doing that, I can't forget to nurture myself, and be the person that *I* am meant to be.
Now I'm just left with the task of figuring out who and what that is....
I've been experiencing the same thing for the past several months now.
What it really boils down to is the fact that I'm not satisfied with just being a wife and mommy. I wanted that, and I tried so hard to be it. I thought that the problem was that I just wasn't trying hard enough. I can see now that there isn't really a "problem", just reality. And the reality is that I need more in my life, that I need more things that are just for me, that are outside of being a wife and mommy.
Despite what I may want, I'm stopping to take a look at what I actually need. The two aren't necessarily the same.
The fact that Emma is getting older is really making me think about the fact that I'm not always going to have these girls of mine. They're not even really "mine", since we can't "have" another person. I've simply been entrusted with the responsibility of nurturing and protecting them, and helping them to become the people that they are meant to be.
And while I'm doing that, I can't forget to nurture myself, and be the person that *I* am meant to be.
Now I'm just left with the task of figuring out who and what that is....
Monday, April 14, 2008
Wild Times at the Magic Castle
It's the morning after. Yes, the party was tons of fun, but I have to say that I'm glad to have another 11 months before it's Molly's birthday again. ;)
I stayed up the night before the party until 1:00 am, decorating and getting the cake ready. It's always a little bit stressful, but I do love it.
The party theme was "Pink Castle" (Emma's choice). So the house was decorated with lots of pink decorations. I hung stars, streamers, ribbon and balloons from the ceiling all over the downstairs of the house. I made use of some paper flowers from her party two years ago, and stuck those up on the living room walls as well, just to give it a fun feel.
The invitations promised "contests of wit, bravery and skill". The contest of "skill" was to pin the fire on the dragon. The contest of "wit" was to figure out the clue and find where the Queen had left her favourite necklace, and the contest of "bravery" was to enter the Ogre's Cave and retrieve the Wizard's lost magic wand (Chris had originally wanted to dress up as an ogre to scare the bejeezus out of them, which I talked him out of, explaining that there was no way we would be able to afford the future therapy bills that this would inevitably lead to).
I learned a few things during the party, for sure. Like never underestimate the volume level of 8 children chanting, "CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! CAKE!". Also - ice cream cones are a treat even if they don't actually contain any ice cream (the kids all wanted a cone to go with their cake (the castle towers were made from ice cream cones). I began to tell them there weren't enough on the cake to go around, when I remembered the whole box in the pantry and figured what the hell...this was surprisingly a big hit. Who knew?
Another thing I learned was to never underestimated how exhausting a five year old's birthday party can be. By the end of the afternoon, I was pooped!
The important part was that all the kids had a blast...and so did I. I do love doing parties for my kids, but I'm glad that I have a good long break until the next one....
I stayed up the night before the party until 1:00 am, decorating and getting the cake ready. It's always a little bit stressful, but I do love it.
The party theme was "Pink Castle" (Emma's choice). So the house was decorated with lots of pink decorations. I hung stars, streamers, ribbon and balloons from the ceiling all over the downstairs of the house. I made use of some paper flowers from her party two years ago, and stuck those up on the living room walls as well, just to give it a fun feel.
The invitations promised "contests of wit, bravery and skill". The contest of "skill" was to pin the fire on the dragon. The contest of "wit" was to figure out the clue and find where the Queen had left her favourite necklace, and the contest of "bravery" was to enter the Ogre's Cave and retrieve the Wizard's lost magic wand (Chris had originally wanted to dress up as an ogre to scare the bejeezus out of them, which I talked him out of, explaining that there was no way we would be able to afford the future therapy bills that this would inevitably lead to).
I learned a few things during the party, for sure. Like never underestimate the volume level of 8 children chanting, "CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! CAKE!". Also - ice cream cones are a treat even if they don't actually contain any ice cream (the kids all wanted a cone to go with their cake (the castle towers were made from ice cream cones). I began to tell them there weren't enough on the cake to go around, when I remembered the whole box in the pantry and figured what the hell...this was surprisingly a big hit. Who knew?
Another thing I learned was to never underestimated how exhausting a five year old's birthday party can be. By the end of the afternoon, I was pooped!
The important part was that all the kids had a blast...and so did I. I do love doing parties for my kids, but I'm glad that I have a good long break until the next one....
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Three Hours and Counting....
Three hours to the big party. There are a few finishing touches to be done, but overall, I think I've got a handle on things. I ended up staying up until 1:00 a.m., putting up decorations and getting the FAB-U-LOUS castle cake finished (photos to come).
The worst part about having a party is busting my hump to clean the house...only have it trashed in a matter of a couple of hours. I'm sure that despite all of my hard work, tomorrow morning I'm going to wake up with another pile of cleaning to do.
Ah, well, such is life.
Okay, so yeah, I MAY be procrastinating just a bit. Time to get back to it. :)
The worst part about having a party is busting my hump to clean the house...only have it trashed in a matter of a couple of hours. I'm sure that despite all of my hard work, tomorrow morning I'm going to wake up with another pile of cleaning to do.
Ah, well, such is life.
Okay, so yeah, I MAY be procrastinating just a bit. Time to get back to it. :)
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Can't seem to get this song out of my head today....
I posted this for those of you who aren't familiar with The Finn Brothers/Crowded House. And for those of you who are, then you can appreciate why I'm hooked on them.....
It's called "Fall At Your Feet". My favourite version of this song is actually sung by our dear friend Scott. He really needs to put some of his stuff up on youtube. ;)
It's called "Fall At Your Feet". My favourite version of this song is actually sung by our dear friend Scott. He really needs to put some of his stuff up on youtube. ;)
Don't ask for the recipe....
...because I don't have one!
(I've been inspired by my niece to blog about the food I'm cooking/eating - thanks, Mel. ;)
I love to cook. The way I love cooking the best is to just throw things in a pot or pan, with a vague idea of what I want the end result to be, and see what happens. More often than not, I am pleasantly surprised with the results.
A couple of days ago I made a gorgeous chickpea and vegetable soup. We're mostly vegetarians and so chickpeas are a staple at our house. They go into everything from soup to chocolate cake (yeah, that's right, I said chocolate cake. Maybe I'll post that particular recipe sometime - delicious!).
This soup has lovely chickpea goodness, along with potatoes, carrots, onion and garlic, vegetable stock, tomatoes, basil, spinach and one of my favourite soup ingredients - broccoli stalks. Yep. Broccoli stalks. I'm one of those frugal people who really hates throwing out good food. It kind of chaps my hide to serve my family broccoli and see those tasty stalks go to waste. So I try to use them up in soup whenever I can, which admittedly isn't as often as I'd like. In any case, I used them in this soup and it made me happy.
What also made me happy is that my picky eater children actually ATE this soup. Surprise, surprise!
I'm having the leftovers for lunch today! YUM!
Friday, April 11, 2008
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