Wait until the end to draw your own conclusion... So last week was Jud's Birthday, also our 5 year anniversary! The boys wanted a Transformers cake and I did my best. The best part of course was blowing out the candles. Josh was uber excited.
For our anniversary, we decided to take a much needed mini-break to Mont-Tremblant. We skied, relaxed, drank beer, ate nachos, and enjoyed some tranquility for three glorious days and nights while Jud's folks looked after the boys. I cannot tell you how great it was to get away!! We decided we need to get away more often...amazing how young we felt while away.... ...and then back to reality...
Some people choose to space their kids apart. We did not. William is 20 months older than Bo, and Bo is 20 months older than Joshua. Yes, there is a lot of fighting over toys, pushing, kicking, punching and the list goes on. There are also moments like these and they tend to outnumber the ones that make you go and hide in the bathroom.
Being in the middle, Bo is trying to find his place. He adores William, "Em" as he calls him, and loves playing with him. But there are times when William has a friend over and Bo gets pushed to the side. He tries to keep up but isn't quite there yet. It's nice to see him engaging with Joshua. He's a good little big brother :)
Our boys are part beast. At least 50%. As of late, Josh's new name is "Angry" (coined by Jud) to which the boys added "Bird" hence "Angry Bird". Josh likes to hit to express his frustrations at not being held 100% of the time, not eating whatever you're eating and being neglected for a millisecond. He especially enjoys hitting Jud, seemingly just for chuckles. William can be quite stubborn and demanding (no idea where he gets that from) and Bo's new name is melodrama. Mornings around here tend to be loud and crazy and as much as I am beginning to loathe poppy-dancy music, it seems to buy us moments here and there where I can sip my lukewarm tea. William's "Gangnum Style" has improved some, and Josh seems to like a strong beat. Not sure how Bo feels about any of this.
William was 3 years old in 2012 and we put him on skis for the first time. For an hour each weekend we would hit a local ski hill, Camp Fortune, and he would ride the 'magic carpet' up and then zoom down the small hill. He knew full well that I would catch him before he hit anything and pop a jellybean into his mouth, so his introduction to skiing was safe, thrilling and tasty. This year he was old enough to take lessons. Based on input from friends who know the different ski hills well, we signed up at Vorlage, a place that focuses upon families.
We opted for a group lesson instead of private lessons because William is a social kid and because it's cheaper. We debated group vs private because when it came to swimming he did much better in a one-on-one environment. Shocking, I know. We are very glad that we went with group lessons, because in his class there are 4 kids and 3 instructors (well, 2 teaching aids). In essence, he gets one-on-one instruction. Ya us!
I normally take him to the hill on Sunday mornings and it's a nice little break from the daily household chaos. Jill finally clued in on this and for his 3rd class she took him skiing. It was my loss in more ways than one, because on that day he began using the chairlift. He loved it. As Jill noted, it was the first time he had ever seen the world from that perspective. He went up the chairlift 5 times. When they returned home he had a big smile plastered across his mug. We were unable to get a picture of his first chairlift ride, but this past weekend I managed to shoot a quick video of him coming down the hill. Not much of a slope when I went by them, so he's shuffling a lot. If you have the volume up, you'll hear William warning his instructor, who is skiing backwards, of the trees behind him. I found this funny:)
So we, or I, haven't been blogging a whole lot. Got caught up in a bunch of writing stuff I had to figure out, which worked out in the end thankfully, and then it was cold here and I always just find January such a blah month. Suffice it to say that sometimes living it is enough....thank God for Modern Family. Anyway, here's a video of William lip syncing to Bruno Mars. We've noticed how much he likes dancy pop music in the car and this song in particular. He'll often scramble for his sunglasses to look like a cool rock star then get into it. A nice end to the January blahs!
As anyone who reads this blog knows, we have three boys who range in age from 10 months to just over 4 years. Our home is many things, but it is always, always, loud and busy. It dawned on me this morning that when Jill packs up the boys and herds them into the van for some routine outing I don't turn to her and say 'I love you'. I don't say 'I'll miss you'. I don't give her a quick kiss and say 'Have fun'. Nine times out of ten I say 'Good Luck!' and slowly close the door.....
And I'm serious when I say it. Good-freakin' luck. Something doesn't feel right about that:)
Happy 2013. Wow. That year went turbo fast. Babies tend to speed up time I think. Josh is now 9 months old... I don't know about you but I'm really feeling time these days. Maybe having kids does that to you. You feel like you have less of everything -- money, energy, patience, food, but especially time. More and more I feel those sands of time slipping through the hourglass and a heaviness in my chest to just get stuff done. Ergo:
I'm sure we could all get in better shape but the kicker I think in setting goals is to set a deadline. So, Jud and I made a list of all the things we'd like to accomplish this year and then put an end date for when it will *hopefully* get done. A big one for me is to get 3 scripts written. It is doable however it'll mean going offline for awhile, disappearing into a writing 'cave' and essentially writing. For those of you reading this who went to Woodbridge Farms Elementary school with me, you'll remember Mr. Cromie, our vice-principal. Mr. Cromie was da man. Hands down, he was he most liked teacher, no, he was the most liked human in that school. Everybody wanted Mr. Cromie for their math teacher or their P.E. teacher, or just someone to shoot the sh*t with. I have never forgotten the latin words for the Great Horned Owl -- Bubo virginianus -- Mr. Cromie's favourite animal, and I've also never forgotten a phrase he wrote down on the chalkboard in Grade 5 math: If it is to be, it is up to me. He told us to never forget those ten simple words and I haven't. Thanks Mr. C. As for Jud's list, it isn't terribly exciting. Mainly stuff around the house (painting, new deck, more painting) and helping me with the scripts in the various stages of writing them. But there is one and I *hope* Jud gets it done. It involves some creative writing and a contest run by the CBC. Those of you who know Jud know what a great writer he is. Even if you don't know him, from the few posts he's written, I think his voice is conveyed really well. Now I may be a little biased but as writer who reads a lot of professional and amateur work, a strong voice that conveys emotion in as few words as possible is a rarity. If I had to boil Jud's "voice" down to one word it would be heart. Jud has the ability to infuse his words with emotion that will make you smile, laugh, cry, giggle...essentially feel which is what writing is all about. The contest is nonfiction and Jud has this hilarious, almost too crazy to be true, story that has to be told. The world needs to hear this story Jud ;)
