Dancing in June

Life feels really crazy right now. The girls were sick for most of May which is very out of character and I am thankful for the antibiotics that finally seemed to kick their infections. I am so glad to have them laughing again and we are all sleeping better at nights. 

And now we're plunging straight on ahead into packing and moving mode. 

At the end of this month, we'll be all packed up, sorted out, and ready for the next bit of our life in Alberta. We're also getting ready for a big concert also at the end of the month. 

And in between all of that, there's just life stuff. Relationships to keep up, emails to write, questions to ponder and the daily life of being a mom to two busy little girls. 

The introvert in me just wants to run and hide in a shell. 

 I don't always feel ready to dance this dance. 

No one always feels ready to step onto the dance floor, that first step is the hardest. And then the music changes and the steps get faster. 

 But it is all beautiful. 

Sometimes the beauty isn't found in the perfect. It's actually almost always found in the imperfect mess of the everyday life. Where moments happen so fast that you want to breathe it all and just freeze time.Where little girls laugh together, and the floor doesn't seem to stay clean, and dinner is simplicity at it's best. Where you make time for 11 year old birthdays and lunchtime picnics with aunties. 

I'm dancing today. Smiling at the fast-paced music that is making up my life. And choosing to enjoy it, one step at a time. 

What does your life look like right now?

Project 365 - Week 15

May 13- May 20

1. Just a moment with my happy girl and I. 

2. I was busy with Khaira and left Kilmo alone for several moments. I came in to check on her and saw  see her all quiet. The morning light was gentle and beautiful and she was totally absorbed in her books. I loved seeing it. 

3. A spontaneous invitation turned out to be the best of days. We walked, the girls played, we had a picnic lunch and then Nicole and I talked and talked while they all napped. Such a gift. 

4. My pretty girls on Mothers' Day. 

5. My sweet Khaira-baby, 9 months old. 

6. Kaden read Kilmeny a story one morning we were there. They were adorable, all cozy in the chair with the book and a doll. 

 
6. 

Following the Spark

After last week, I was quite ready for a different sort of week when it came to be Monday. We had the loveliest of weekends and I felt refreshed and ready to handle whatever might happen. But I also knew for my own sanity and for the girls' sake that I would set the rhythm for the week a little different then our normal routine.

We would follow the spark. 

We would take advantage of the beautiful weather and let it dictate our days a little more. 

 We would eat lunch at the park and then blow bubbles. Because it is beautiful out. And sunshine does wonders for restoring one's soul.

 I  would say yes to a spontaneous invitation to spend the day with a friend and her little girls. Honestly, she mentioned popsicles and sitting in the sun and talking and I was all over it.I got a lovely tan burn to show just how long we sat and talked while our girls slept. 

We would do necessary errands timed so that we get in a visit with cousins. And I was refreshed again by chatting with my sister in law and sharing all sorts of life stuff with her. 

And it has been a different sort of week, filled with all sorts of lovely and a few not-so-lovely bits too. I'll be honest, there were more messes then I care to admit and the floor's needed washing all week. I don't live in a strawberry cream patch, I just like to dwell on the nice bits and let the other stuff go.

What do you do to 'follow the spark'?

Project 365 - Week 4

The Lovely Ordinary. Simple Beauty. Moments Captured. 

1. Khaira is such a sparkly baby, her big eyes are full of light and sparkles when she's happy which is most of the time. I feel blessed. 

2. I took some time to finally make Kilmeny's deepest wish (on that day) come true. We went sledding on the perfect sledding hill just across the street. She was delighted. 

3. Authors, the game of choice when my younger sisters in law come over. They baby sat for us on the weekend and spent the night so we could have some girl time of shopping, a tea party at which we ate tons of scones and giggled, and played Authors. It was a good day. 

4. Jared's brother had a birthday and we got to share in the cake and well wishes. A late night but totally worth it. 

5. An unexpected gift-time at Starbucks without my girls. I had to deliver a food order and a friend was watching my sleeping girlies. I was early for the delivery and got to enjoy a salted caramel mocha and people watch. Lovely. 

6. Middle of the winter blahs are made much better by fun food. 

7. Khaira is definitely sitting up now, by herself and very happy to be doing so.

 Enjoy your weekend, friends! All the lovely, messy, and unexpected moments.

us in real life

We're home. We had a wonderful time away with our families. There are lots of pictures to come. But for now, here's us last night. At Coldstone Creamery. With an awake baby. She was adjusting to being back in Ontario, I think. The walk down, the ice-cream and the time together were perfect.

 

It was a beautiful, balmy night. We sat on a bench outside our apartment and talked while Kilmeny slept. 

And she slept until morning. And today is another day filled with His grace.

Our Life

 

 I had wanted to write about our daily life, the little things that make up the days for us in Hamilton, what we do each day so that you all could get an idea of what our life is like but that never happened. Life just keeps rolling along and you've got to hang on for the ride. 

I'm taking a break from everything that needs to be done right now and writing on here because I won't be on here really at all for awhile. Tomorrow morning, at a very early hour, we are flying back home to Alberta for a much anticipated visit with our families. We'll be there for a week, visiting both families and Jared will be shooting a wedding so it will be a busy, crazy, wonderful time. I can't wait. 

There is much to write about and pictures to put up but I simply don't have time. We had three days off this past weekend and got to spend a lot of time together. We went to Niagara Falls one day and drove to Montreal the next. It was crazy. But that's kind of the story of our life. We love it. We may not have what other people have and we may get flack for what we do but we have memories and experiences that few other people do. And I am so thankful for them. 

 

  Now back to sorting and packing clothes, washing the floor and dishes and all those little things that must be done before one travels. 

Enjoy your day, friends, all those moments that make up your life! 

Excitement and a to-do list
 

I'm excited. Tonight I get to go see my favorite violinist play. He's sitting as assistant concertmaster which means I can see him really well from the front row. I will stay in the auditorium the whole concert long since Kilmeny will be spending the evening with some dear friends. I've known Liz basically all my life and so it's fitting that our daughters start their friendship as young as possible. I'm excited that we have friends that are so willing to watch our baby for us so we can have some 'just us two' time. 

The baby in question is now sleeping. I have a list that keeps on growing in my notebook/journal/planner (which I want to tell you all about in a post, someday!). I really shouldn't be on here when I have a list like that but in my defense it does say 'blog post' right on that list. And I didn't just write it now so I could cross it off. ;-) 
I  was a busy beaver this morning working on Kilmeny's scrapbook hence I have scrapbooking stuff spread everywhere which really should be cleaned up before I leave.

I have several different things I want to blog about, including my amazing younger sister who is due to deliver her first baby in a month. If you could pray for her, her husband and the baby, we'd all appreciate it. The baby is in the breach position and it needs to move. Thanks! =) Oh, their names are Caleigh and Stephen.

I love evenings like this when I get to get all gussied up for my man. I'm wearing a dress, something I don't normally wear when I have Kilmeny with me because as a humourous experience taught me, I can't feed her in it. At least discreetly. I'll stop there. 

I'll be spending a little more time in the bathroom, checking my hair, fixing my makeup and hey, I might put some sparkly stuff on as well.  

Okay, I need to run now. I hope all your afternoons are filled with excitement as you enjoy the moments!  

sunday 

It was the day after a concert. We stayed up until 2 am the night before, talking and laughing on the couch.  Because we really like being with each other, especially when we've been apart all day and basically all night.

We slept in on Sunday morning. Sort of. The kind of sleeping in you do when you have a baby. 

  I made rhubarb muffins (thanks to my Aunt for the fresh rhubarb!), washed the peaches and poured the coffee. We had a couple hours before the rest of the string players showed up to rehearse for the gig they were playing at later that afternoon.

Then it started. 

The phone rang. It was one of the violists, she wanted to come early since she wasn't coming from her own house and it would be faster just to come here. I said yes. She used our shower and had breakfast with us. I love it when people feel at home with us to ask stuff like that. 

Kilmeny played on her blanket. I visited and cut out paper for my latest scrapbook page. Jared played music. Then the cellist showed up. 

I made fresh coffee. There were still muffins left. He helped himself. They discussed music. I cleaned up my scrapbook supplies from taking up the entire loveseat. 

The other violist arrived. She doesn't drink coffee and didn't want a muffin. They continued discussing their music. I put Kilmeny to bed. I moved myself and my stuff into our room. They practiced. It sounded great. They practiced some more. They all got changed into their black perfomance attire. They left. 

The apartment felt quiet and rather empty. I turned on the music, spread my paper and pictures all over the bed and made beauty. 

The afternoon got very long. And very quiet. I sipped on some cranberry juice, used up the last of my creativity and finally just went for a walk. 

Then Jared came home. And everything was so much better. We made plans to go to our favorite sushi place for a late dinner. We talked and laughed over our oh-so-yummy delicacies. And I kicked myself for not bringing the camera, the presentation of the food is impeccable. It was a fabulous way to end the Sunday and start the week. 

   

a trip to the farmer's market 

The Farmer's market is one of my bi-weekly delights. I love walking downtown, past all the old brick houses with lovely flowers, past the old churches and schools and spending a pleasant hour or so perusing the stalls and purchasing the fresh produce. I thought I would capture today's trip for you so you can share in this delight! 

Kilmeny is sleeping and I'm drinking a cup of Orange Pekoe while savoring a Laura Secord 'extreme dark chocolate' square. As a total aside, you all know that the real Laura Secord wasn't a chocolatier, right? She was quite the heroine and you should all know about her, especially if you're Canadian. The town of Ingersoll is near us which I think is really neat and Laura Secord's home is within an hour of us. I love history. If you want to go google who Laura Secord is, feel free, then pop back and let me know. 

Back to today. 

I  thought a picture of Kilmeny and I would be a nice way to start. Easier said then done. Here's the best attempt. We are both wearing white, pink, and dark jeans. I like coordinating and I like wearing pink a lot more now that I have a little girl. Go figure.

 

And another, just because:

Ready for the walk! 

Those white moccasins, they were made especially for Kilmeny by her uncle Kyle (Funston) and her feet are finally big enough to fit them!

They didn't last long on her feet though.

There were some beautiful gardens along the way. I could have made a beautiful bouquet but I didn't. I just admired them from a distance and made notes for my 'some day' garden. 

I couldn't resist the daisies!

And then we were there! 

I  forgot to save some cash for my flowers so I was glad that this stall took debit. I selected the gerbera daisies because, well, I love them. And the color was so appealing. I opened them up and put them on top of the stroller so I could look at them all the way home. 

While I was paying for the daisies, the owner ( or somehow related to the stall) of the stall came with chocolate for the flower lady. He asked if she had shared any with me. She hadn't. But then she did. It was extreme dark- 70% cocoa and I quote 'so it's good for you, keeps you young!' I thanked her and then she gave me another square. I saved to share it with Jared. I couldn't have kept all the yummieness to myself especially after reading this morning about giving as it has been given to you. We each got a square of blissfulness. 

There were more gardens on the way home. Lavender for Kendra.

And  orange lilies for Caleigh. She loves them so much that her wedding bouquet was made up of them. Which makes perfect sense since I had daisies in mine.

To add to the general Adventure of the day, it started to rain. And I didn't have an umbrella. I looked for one to buy but the store didn't carry any. 

I covered Kilmeny up and ran. Somewhere there's a theory that if you run fast enough, you will dodge the wetness. It didn't work. I was soaked. Kilmeny was still sleeping and dry. That was a good thing. One drowned rat is enough. I was slightly tempted to wait for Jared inside the shelter of this lovely place but I knew I should probably buy something if I was going to do that and I'd already spent all my money, so I hurried on home.

Jared arrived home just in time to bring in the last of the vegs up the stairs. I hustled and bustled making lunch, kissing Jared goodbye as he was off to a rehearsal, feeding Kilmeny and then eating myself.

Kilmeny is grabbing everything these days. I carried her and the flowers up the stairs first and she held onto the flowers all the way up and didn't let go until I took them from her. Such a little doll. She attracts lots of attention at the market. One little two year old was quite taken with her and as I was telling his mother how old Kilmeny was, he looked right at Kilmeny and said, ' Are you six months?' So cute. There's an older Middle Eastern man who always blows kisses to Kilmeny and exclaims just how adorable she is. I don't disagree. 

I read Martha Stewart Living while enjoying my  tuna sandwich and Kilmeny enjoyed her Beatrix Potter book from her Auntie Caleigh.

Then it was time for her nap and I hustled and bustled once again to restore order to our little abode. 

My vegetable drawer is all full again with fresh, local produce!

And my fruit basket is all full again with fresh, imported fruit!

  

And the bathroom window is made cheery by these blooms. Bonus points to anyone who knows what the bottle used to hold.

And now I'm off to write some emails while the little doll sleeps. Hopefully. 

I also purchased some new earrings, not from the farmer's market, some sterling silver daisies to go in my ear. And some delightful filigree silver spheres. 

Happy Tuesday to all of you! And thanks for reading, gleeps, that turned into a long post!