Young Love is A Purple Unicorn

Yesterday I witnessed an innocent moment of  young love.  My boys were invited to a girl's birthday party from their old daycare.  My youngest has always had a thing for her.  He counts her as one of his many girl friends, perhaps his first.

Having no idea what to buy her, we went to Toys R Us and I told the boys they could pick out one gift each.  I already envisioned the mom using the oh so handy gift receipt to return the boyish presents mine were likely to buy.

S decided that he was going to buy a stuffed pony and L a Barbie.  And sure enough, S zeroed in on a purple unicorn and L settled on Merida from Brave. 

The party was fun, a few old friends from daycare were there.  Sean was so excited to give A her gift, and was disappointed that she wasn't going to open the presents there at the party due to time constraints.  He was so disappointed that  A's mother bent the rules and let A open our gift in secret.  As soon as she saw the purple unicorn, she hugged it and exclaimed that she had been wanting a purple unicorn forever.  Sean beamed.  It was a sweet moment that I hope they both remember when they're old and grey. 

S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y

It is the last Saturday night of the Christmas break!  Yeah!  By now, I need a week to myself to decompress and relax.  While the husband was able to go back to work on January 2nd, I had to take three vacation days to stay home with the boys. 

I love my children but I am ready to have them go back to school and back on a routine that doesn't include hours and hours of Skylanders Giant, intermixed with Batman on the X-Box. 

So yes, I am looking forward to go back to work on Monday, and going through the throngs of e-mails that are likely waiting for me.   At least I'm bringing in my gift from Santa, a personal size Keurig machine.  Cheers to many cups of caffeine! 

Bowling the Old and Sledding the New

Happy New Year!

We celebrated the new year at exactly 7 pm on December 31, 2012, thanks to the local bowling alley's New Year's eve party, complete with a countdown with noise makers and hats. 

We had a fun time bowling with the big balls.  We usually go 10 pin bowling.  And by fluke, we ended up bowling beside a little boy from school, B, who is in the other grade one class. Suddenly, L was happy to go bowling.  On our drive over, L had been protesting and complaining about not wanting to go bowling. 

We were home by 7:30pm and the boys were in bed by 8.  And yours truly wasn't far behind them.  I went upstairs to read in bed and was fast asleep by 9:30, according to my Twitter feed.  I must be old, I can't even make it to 10pm, let along midnight.

January 1st brought us a sunny day.  There is still snow on the ground so we decided to try out some toboggans we  bought one hopeful winter a few years ago.  Believe it or not, the boys, ages 6 and 4, have never been tobogganing -- well, Liam has, as a baby.  We tied Pepper to his infant sled and she pulled him a distance about a foot. 

 There is a small little hill at the neighbourhood park, which is just big enough to introduce the boys to tobogganing. 

Of course the boys protested as we made them put their snowpants, and warm mitts on, grumbling how they didn't want to go.  However, once out there on the wee hill, they loved it. 

S claims he wants to go sledding every day. 

I guess we may have to invest in some better sleds and maybe find some bigger hills.  And hopefully we'll get a bit more snow.  The grass was already poking out in some spots.

This Year Was Brought To You By the Number Three

Three is a pretty good number.  The winner's circle always has the top three winners.  In baseball, there are three strikes before you are out.  Rock stars usually count to three when doing a sound check.  But in my case, three is pretty pitiful.  I only managed three posts in 2012, and they all came in the first three days of January!  I guess I need to work on that, a lot.  Maybe I will aim for six posts all year....

So where do I begin....

Well, it's a snowy Saturday, it's the first snow we have seen in over 12 months.  Our winter last year was pretty much non-existant.  I remember getting a pedicure on March 17th as the weather was warm and I wanted to wear sandals.  It's suppose to snow another 5 cm today on top of the other 5 we got on Boxing day.  We've had a lazy few days, with nowhere to go, and the boys have lots of Skylanders Giant characters to play.

We got a new dog, Princess Lulu back in May.  Our previous foster finally found a home.  We started off fostering Lulu, but it soon became obvious that she was attached to us.  She is a sweet dog with many quirks, that we are still trying to work on.  Number one quirk, she sings before she eats. I will have to upload that video later.

I will strive to write more this year.  With a 42 man, and 6  and 4 year old sons, and a quirky dog, it does get a bit hectic, but also a lot of fun. 

Brrr, It was A Cold One Today

And I don't mean as in the cold beverage on a sticky hot day. It was minus 20 with the wind chill, downright nippy.

Admittedly we haven't had it bad this winter so far. The temperature has been mild, with little snow. Which I'm not complaining at all. I like a wet rainy Christmas. It reminds me of when I went to Ireland for Christmas. We'd shop in the high street and when the rain got heavy, we'd nip into the pub for a pint.

The cold air certainly made it hard to go back to work after our short break. But it was also nice to be back to a routine the kids and I are used to.

Fostering Dogs

To fill the void of losing our beloved dog Pepper back in April 2010, we decided to foster other coonhounds in need. These dogs usually come from high kill shelters in the States and the foster group I volunteer with tries to save all coonies.

Shortly after Pepper's death, we welcome Mojo into our home. She was a sweet dog, a Bluetick that came from a good hunting lineage and thus she was used to breed. She was a kennel dog, she quickly took over our walk in closet as her den.

She was also part Houdini. She could actually climb fences, not just jump but climb using her paws like hands. At first we couldn't figure out how she kept escaping our backyard, but one day we caught her in the act of scaling our wooden gate. I think she was just as surprised as we were that her secret was found out. One night, she fled the backyard and was gone for 8 hours, on a very cold night. Mike found her in the nearby ravine, cold, wet and dirty with a few nicks and cuts.

She eventually found her forever home at the end of 2010 out near Ottawa and has been renamed Rosie. She is doing well in her new home and that's all I can ask for.

Right now we have an English Coonhound Charley, who is a senior hound. He is Mr. Personality. We've had him since January 2011, and in all honesty, he will likely be with us until he passes. It's going to take a special family or person to take him. He's not the friendliest dog to other male dogs and he thinks smaller dogs are like his stuffies. Can't blame the guy, he was likely a one dog hunter's dog. But man he loves people and loves hanging out in cars.

This poem sums up what it is like to foster. Eventually I want to adopt a dog of our own again, but in the meantime, being a foster mom is rewarding.

"There I sat, alone and afraid,

You got a call and came right to my aid.

You bundled me up with blankets and love. And, when I needed it most, you gave me a hug.

I learned that the world was not all that scary and cold. That sometimes there is someone to have and to hold.

You taught me what love is, you helped me to mend.

You loved me and healed me and became my first friend.

And just when I thought you'd done all you do, There came along not one new lesson, but two.

First you said, "Sweetheart, you're ready to go. I've done all I can, and you've learned all I know."

Then you bundled me up with a blanket and kiss. Along came a new family, they even have kids!

They took me to their home, forever to stay. At first I thought you sent me away.

Then that second lesson became perfectly clear. No matter how far, you will always be near.

And so, Foster Mom & Dad, you know I've moved on.

I have a new home, with toys and a lawn. But I'll never forget what I learned that first day.

You never really give your fosters away. You gave me these thoughts to remember you by.

We may never meet again, and now I know why.

You'll remember I lived with you for a time. I may not be yours, but you'll always be mine." - Author Unknown

Is It Really 2012?

Wow, has it really been 20 months since I last updated this thing? Boy, where the hell have I been?

A new year and a new promise to be a little more regular around here, not that I have a legion of fans hanging on to every word I write.

And on that note, I raise a glass of red to my new found blog. I hope I keep remembering my password.

Cheers.