Thursday 24 December 2009

Forever young



May the good lord be with you down every road you roam.

And may sunshine and happiness surround you when you're far from home.

And may you grow to be proud, dignified and true.

And do unto others as you'd have done to you.

Be courageous and be brave, and in my heart you'll always stay

Forever young...

May good fortune be with you may your guiding light be strong.

Build a stairway to heaven with a prince or a vagabond.

And may you never love in vain and in my heart you'll always remain

Forever young...

And when you finally fly away I'll be hoping that I served you well

For all the wisdom of a lifetime no one can ever tell.

But whatever road you choose, I'm right behind you, win or lose

Forever young...

-Rod Stewart

Happy Birthday Puppy we love you!

Tuesday 22 December 2009

Birthday for Two

Deaglan will turn two on Christmas Eve. We've tried to separate Christmas and his birthday by holding a party a week or so prior. Then on Christmas Eve we will celebrate it again with Shaune's family. Here are some of the best shots. I would have included more but most of us had one eye closed or were just putting our forks into our mouths when the camera turned on us.

Shaune didn't fail us and put out a delicious spread as usual including freshly made vegetarian sushi, shrimp cocktail, his own guacamole and taco dip, meatballs, bruschetta with goat cheese, cilantro, tomato and kalmata olive, and much more.
Thomas was included of course and Deaglan has talked of little other than blowing candles. (I made sure to grab the cupcakes from the back rows to serve our guests).

The arrival of Cousin Asia was greatly anticipated and the two hardly left each others' sides. Asia is almost seven and Deaglan easily thinks she is the greatest person ever to live.

I'm sure next year Cousin Farrah will be joining in the running and screaming.


It was a fun day and we want to thank all of our friends and family for making it a wonderful celebration.

Saturday 19 December 2009

Prologue

I've never been a big fan of Christmas but know that this will not do in my near future. It's not the essence of the holiday that I disdain; it's all the hype and marketing that comes with it. When people ask if you if you're ready for Christmas what they really mean is - are you finished buying. I know that this is what it has come to mean in our society.

Luckily I still have a little time to grumble because Deaglan doesn't quite get it yet. Oh we've been doing our due diligence - pointing out Santa, teaching him a few carols, decorating our house and getting him excited about the tree and lights. But I'm still trying to figure out what angle I'll take when he really does understand. I'm not naive, I know that Santa and presents and all the magic surrounding that will be a part of it but I don't feel all that passionate about it.

On the other hand I don't want it to be all about Jesus and his birth either. We have a manger scene on display and Deaglan is quite fascinated by the baby but only because it is a tiny toy-like figure that he would like to get his hands on. The truth is, I don't know if Christmas has ever held real meaning for me.

This year at work we sponsored a less fortunate family and gave them a "Christmas" meaning we bought gifts and food for them. And within our family we took half of the budget we had for each other and helped out a family member with bills and groceries. This all felt pretty good.

I want my children to enjoy Christmas but I don't want them to get completely lost in the 'getting of gifts'. I like the idea of giving to where it's needed. Someone at work suggested that instead of giving the boss a gift why don't we donate some money on his behalf. Others didn't like this idea. Grumble.

I'll have to change my tune by next year for sure. I'll have two little ones by then and one will be fully charged for the season. I'll let you know what angle I've taken then. I hope I don't totally sell out.

Deaglan is wearing a turtleneck sewn and sent by our beautiful friend Jenn at T Rex Mom and Dad Tales. We love it!!

Sunday 13 December 2009

Sunday Citar



I've always loved the first two lines of this Khalil Gibran poem. But recently I read the entire thing and it stopped me. It is rich and layered and inspires me to be the best parent I can be. I hope your Sunday has been simple and happy.

Your children are not your children.

They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself. They come through you but not from you,

And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,

For they have their own thoughts. You may house their bodies but not their souls,

For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.

For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.

The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.

Let our bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;

For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.

Kahlil Gibran

Saturday 5 December 2009

A quiet night out

We mistakenly went out for dinner to a quiet ethnic restaurant last night. It was all my doing. I just had to have Indian - nothing else would do. We weren't thinking. We left the house unprepared. We didn't do our research or carefully plan.

When we arrived, we noticed that we were only the third table in the entire place. I quickly flipped the menu over to find the kids menu. There wasn't one. Our server asked us if we needed a highchair or a booster. Shaune and I looked at each other worriedly and said neither.

You see, recently we packed away the highchair, tried a booster seat for a few weeks and finally gave up when Deaglan would only settle for a dining room chair. Every night it takes a lot of effort, chiding, threats and sometimes louder-than-we-ever-thought-we'd talk-to-our-child telling to get him to sit for even five minutes straight.

So there we were at this very quiet restaurant. The other two tables hosted each a young couple who I swear wore the pronouncement that they would never ever want children like red flags on their backs. I'm not making it up when I say that these people looked like they felt all children were a nuisance. And I'm positive that our presence only certified their feelings were true.

Because Deaglan did not miraculously morph into a cooperative quiet little person. He stayed his usual curious, grabby, I-don't-do-sitting-still self. And Shaune and I became nervous jittery wrecks as if we had brought a bomb into a building without the foggiest clue of how to diffuse it if it went off.

So after I confirmed that there indeed was no children's menu (you may recall some of my posts complaining that Deaglan only eats cheese and cheerios), I asked our server if she had some crayons and a piece of paper. I would have settled for borrowing her pen and unfolding a napkin at that point. Thankfully she had a blank place mat and plastic cup full of broken crayons.

I told Shaune to hurry up and decide on his meal so we could order as soon as the server came back with our drinks. No sense testing Deaglan's limits at a time like this. Unfortunately we didn't have to wait long for him to reach these limits.

I ordered him a plate of steamed basmati rice and some cheese-filled nan bread. I absent-mindedly gave him a spoon to eat the rice with. That's when the concert started. He first jumped off of his chair and began drumming on the chair. As I tried discreetly to grab him he escaped my reach and ran toward a brick wall and learned what a lovely scraping noise the spoon made against it. By this point white rice covered the floor beneath us. I began the chase while Shaune crouched to the floor to pick up the rice. Once I caught up to him, with teeth clenched, I grabbed his arm and suggested we go for a walk to the front of the restaurant to see the Christmas tree.

Dumb, dumb, dumb.

His first instinct of course was to grab the garland and beads. I picked him up but this only caused wailing and crying to let him down. Out of breath and pregnant I calmed him and brought him back to the table. Our food had arrived. The server asked if we needed anything else. We'll try the highchair I suggested desperately.

This entire time I was too afraid to look over at the other tables. I didn't want to see their disapproving looks. I did notice however that there was not a single chuckle or awwww so cute directed our way.

We were able to eat a few bites and then just gave up and asked that our food be packaged for home. I always swore I would never be one of those parents who scolds and yells at her kids in public. And I didn't last night but I am seriously re-considering this foolish oath I made.