Category: A Day In Our Life

#19 Halloween Shenanigans

11/2/2015

We got our first snowfall and sub zero weather just in time for Halloween. Ethan enjoyed talking to us a lot about Dia de Los Muertos. We spend the month of November in our house honouring those who have gone before us in our family.

Ethan said, "It is a great month to honour our ancestors."
"Do you know who some of them are, Ethan? " I asked.
"Yup. Leonardo Da Vinci?"

Why not? There are only seven degrees of separation so its highly possible.

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#18 Yukon Kids Will Bear Crawl First

10/27/2015

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Xavier is 10 months tomorrow. He has yet to roll over. He likes to sit up and has been making some effort to get places. But its more of a Downward Dog move- or what Ian likes to name a Bear Crawl. This is kid is practically Tarzan.

If I had to pick one disney princess for Ysabeau to play make-believe with...it would be Belle. Although I am a big fan of the new live-action Cinderella. She has some good words to live by -"Be kind and have courage".

Catholic update below. Here is Ysabeau pretending to be a priest at whatever chance she gets. Lifts up a Tomato- "The Blood of Christ". Lifts up a Shreddie -"The body of Christ". Talk about finding the sacredness in everyday life.

Our new priest Father David brought us (actually carried Ysabeau) up a local hill for mass on the mountain. It was spectacular except it was hindered by the fear that one of my kids would fall off the cliff.

Ian and I got married for the third time (its a charm now right?). A long story short- we were not able to get married in the Catholic Church six years ago but we had the pleasure of doing so at our local Maryhouse. It's a small chapel and a lay community resides there. Father Kieran has been a close friend and priest since we came up here. It made for a special day for us with friends.

I am proud to be the single (god)-mom of this little peanut below - Catherine Caudle. She will be a force for beauty and goodness in this world like her name-saint. So far single parenting is going well -I don't have to do nights which is a good thing for me and for Catherine.

Xavier's Halloween costume - baby Tron. I hope those rare earth magnets aren't killing his brain cells.

I take Ysabeau to a drop-in preschool. She likes to dress up as "mommy" and go grocery shopping. I take that as a compliment because right now I have pajamas that second as street clothes so I can grocery shop in them and I assure you I have never owned sunglasses like that.

Ysabeau now gets 15 minutes of book reading time on her own before bed. No matter the book it often starts with "Now run along and don't get into mischief or you will be put in a pie by Mr. McGregor!".

He won't roll but he will stand. No teeth yet but I imagine the red cheeks say they are coming soon!

BFF

Lest we forget- he is still a wee baby.

Ethan's Thanksgiving celebration at school. So glad we have him here with us. I am very blessed that this young man is the brother of my kids.

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#17 She Who Deals With The Stinky Stuff

10/6/2015

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Well, we just got back form our visit to see the Pope. (How often does one get to say that?). We are trying to let life return to normal and then I think about the crazy stuff that goes on under this roof and know that normal is certainly relative.

Ysa lovin' Auntie Kristjaan!

Ysa with Spencer, Auntie Rhi's boyfriend. He's a farm boy and Ysa clearly is not a farm girl!

Ian is now on parental leave for 3 months and, for Ethan, it all ready feels more crowded in what he considered an already overpopulated house. He was asking why Ian gets to stay home from work and the topic of what "work" is came up.

Ethan asked, "Who works harder? You- who stays home with us? Or Dad- who goes to an
  office?
I employed socratic dialogue and asked a question about the question, "What do you
     think?" (He is too young of a man to know this is a loaded question).
"Well," he began, "You don't get breaks and you have to deal with stinky stuff - so I
   think you work harder."
"I like the way your mind works Ethan."

Ysabeau is enjoying having her daddy home. On the way to see the Pope we left her with Poppa and Nana in Edmonton. Sleeping arrangments saw Ian sleeping with Ysabeau for one night.

I thought it best as we had to get up early and I didn’t want to be bothered by his snoring all night. Ysabeau kept poking her dad and telling him "to stop making all that noise!"

Ysa and Auntie Rhi

Dinner conversation at our house always causes me a bit of anxiety. The kids are at such different stages and we now outnumbered so it can get out of hand really quick. Ethan is struggling with focus at school a little bit and this is becoming epically clear to us at the table.

We will ask him how his day went and he will tell us about all the games he plays at recess, in particular his favorite “pine cone wars” but then tacks on a gem like this at the end: “What happens to God when the universe ends?”

I love philosophy so I don’t want to ignore him but Xavier has entered this high demand eating stage where if you don’t have the next spoonful loaded and ready, he goes red, practically chokes on what he already has in his mouth and begins to shake and scream.

In the midst of this we just hope Ysabeau hasn’t left the table to empty her personal little potty into the “big girl toilet” (her favorite ‘helpful’ thing to do right now). Which usually means nothing has made it to the toilet to flush because it’s all over the floor.

Ysabeau is in the terrible 3s but that’s okay. She is allowed to be and do anything she wants after receiving with us with the best greeting ever after being gone for 10 days. It will wear off but basically even her tantrums seem adorable to me right now.

After one particular fit, I started calling her “Beau-dica” Warrior Queen.
She laughed and said “No mommy! Its not Beau-di-ca. Its Beau-di-COW.! MMMOOOOOOOO!”.

Ysabeau sitting on Poppa's new hip!

Torchic

Ethan is still into Pokemon but has taken to colouring three Pokemon characters at a time, putting them on the fridge, and then asking to me which one really “speaks” to me.

I told him to choose since he is the Aficionado. He choose Torchic – “because I can’t resist his cuteness”.

I am okay with Pokemon now though because he offered the sweetest of sacrifices for me. I lost our new upgraded ergo baby carrier, leaving it on one of our walks (don’t ask). In tears, I gathered the kids up in the car when I realized what I had done and went to see if it still might be on the side of a busy road where I left it. It wasn’t there.

Ethan couldn’t bear to see me sad.
“I have to do it,” he said.
“Do what?”
“I have to sell my Pokemon cards. I will see them for $1 each”
“Oh don’t worry. Anyway, I appreciate the gesture but even that wouldn’t cover the cost”.
“Okay – I will see them for $3 each”.
“I don’t think Holy Family allows extortion at school. But really Ethan, you don’t know what that means to me.

This kid.

He really was offering to sell everything he has for me. (He doesn’t have all his toys here in Canada and most are at his other home).

Above is a sweet picture of a tea party Ethan helped Ysabeau to set up. Most eclectic gathering of stuffies I ever saw:

That’s MerSheep (Ethan claims the sheep is part mermaid)
Pope Francis
An Ent (LOTR)
Lucy (Elephant who paints from Edmonton Zoo stuffy)
Xochitl (Indigenous Mexican doll)
Assorted others

Below is Ysa's minature tea set which is she equally loves. Sometimes she puts her little peg saints on the chairs. I can just imagine the table discussion: Best Marian Appartion. Go!

And Xav. What a guy. I think this is his 9th consecutive month in stripes. He wears it so well. I accidently put the 10th month sticker on and had to redo the photo shoot. You really do stop counting with the second kid.

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#16 Not Yo Mama's Cul-de-Sac

9/18/2015

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The biggest blessing about living in Whitehorse has been the friends and neighbours we have made. You can usually count on making some friends (one hopes) but neighbours – you just never now how that is going to turn out.

I’ll be posting more about our friends later but now is a perfect time to write about the two families we are sandwiched in between – literally- in our Takhini neighbourhood.

Bruce and Koreen are refreshingly down-to-earth people. They are on the other side of our duplex and we think that we are just going to build a cat flap between out two houses (between the joining wall instead of to outside) so that our kids can play in the winter at eachother’s homes without ever having to get their boots on.

Bruce and Koreen

Their kids are Logan and Ember who feel know like cousins to my own. Ember and Ysabeau get a long pretty well considering they are both incredibly feisty girls and Logan keeps a mellow head during play time so things generally work out. The girls run around in dress-up clothes terrorizing the cul-de-sac with Logan corralling them on his bike.

Koreen is one of the truly kindest people I have ever met. She is a true caretaker and comes next door with a home-made hot chocolate when I’m not feeling well. She took care of Ysabeau in her home when I went back to work for a while and I couldn’t imagine a better person to entrust my kid to.

The fabulous four

Bruce is Koreen’s equal in terms of kindness. He is a carpenter with ADD (just kidding- I think). Basically he is always working on some kind of project, or keen to help out so he always is there to guide and help us in our home improvements. A pretty-darn devoted father who enjoys scotch and a cigar - the front doorstep between our two houses is the scene of many a dad’s night out for him and Ian.

This couple has always been there for our kids and us. In fact, they will be taking care of Ethan while we are off on our pilgrimage to see the Pope. I’ll have to bring them back a Bobblehead Francis.

On the other side, is Bryan and Kathryn. Plain and simple- they inspire me. They have been top notch neighbours from day one whenNurse Kathryn moved - and in a matter of months and her super-handy, gentle and amazing-with-kids boyfriend moved to the North to be with her.

Last year Bryan and Kathryn took Ethan on a canoe trip when Ian and I both had to work. He was pretty pumped!

Bryan is also handy and applies his care for the earth and avoiding waste to so many of his projects around home. Together they make a spectacular gardening team and their generosity knows no bounds. Its couldn’t have gotten any better but then they announced they are getting married. Super great!

So basically they are sticking around for the long haul. Maybe one day we might even tie the knot as neighbours and get chickens together. (I know this neighbour edition is getting ridiculously sappy).

They actually lowered fences between our houses so we could enjoy eachother’s company more and built a small kid-sized fence between their house and ours and never complained about the suspiciously smaller crop of strawberries they had this year (thanks to Ysabeau). They practice what they preach about living lightly on this early and I am always amazed that despite their duplex being the mirror image of hours, their electricity bill is for sure $100 less. Clearly, I need to learn more from them!

They are headed off for an 8th month tour of Europe and other far off places – and on bikes no less. I can’t wait to hear about their adventures. Ysabeau will miss Kathryn and Bryan who are top of her list when she lists the people she loves. Top of mine too.

Kathryn and Bryan's driveway turned to garden, with kid sized gate!

Our cul-de-sac is also the home of Jon and Odette and little Max (and soon another coming). They are always looking out for our kids too. As you can see below, there is a lot of beard going on in this little Takhini circle. Something in the water?

There are also triplets in the cul-de-sac about Ysa’s age so I am hoping when winter really starts to feel long, we all just commit to sending this gang of kids out to the giant snow hill the street plower makes and hope for the best.

John and Max

Just to bring the cuteness factor of this post off the charts.

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A Day In Our Life #14 - Yukomicon and Toilet Training

8/27/2015

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I am a die hard fan of Star Trek: The Next Generation. I hate Deep Space Nine; I'm not even a big fan of the original.

So when Yukomicon promises to deliver Marina Sirtis (AKA Deanna Troi) to my doorstep - I buy tickets. Three tickets( since we must pass on Next Gen to the next gen). Also the voice over for Tuxedo Mask was coming. Perhaps less of a draw but cult pop culture enough to entice me.

I was super impressed with what geeky weekend this small town can deliver! Personally I am almost convinced to sign up for Yukon's full contact medieval fighting group- and I mean full contact. The only thing you can't do is thrust cause that might kill.

The Company of the White Wolf

The Mexican was in Pokemon heaven. Met lots of other Pokeminions. He is starting to describe his family in Pokeman descriptors. For instance, there are cards (from what I can make out) that are energy and creatures have different powers and types.He asks me about Ysabeau (as though I created her superpowers) -

"Is Ysabeau a fighting type? I think she is."
"Why?"
"Because she seems powerful."

Oh yes she does.

That's why we had to bring her home when she started getting pissed off that she wasn't joining the Mario Kart tournament with the other 6 to 42 year old men.

And Ysabeau now speaks the language of Pokemon power. While brushing teeth this morning she says to me;

"You have the power of Elsa and I have the power of Olaf". [The Mexican is always comparing powers of Pokemon critters].

I hope that means she thinks ice fires from my fingers when I am angry.

Only one more week till school starts for the Mexican. We finally have been figuring out how to make the days work with a 10, a 2.5 year old and an 8 month old.

The Mexican has been enjoying a Spanish reading group, flying kites and playing with friends. He has the habit of getting super philosophical at the dinner table. He was building a fort in a friend's yard with their boys. It was quite the set up. At dinner he was reflecting on it and mused;

"Our fort....it was amazing. It was like what I imagine to be a perfect world.". Well if the world goes Pete Tong I know that all he needs to be happy is a few pieces of wood, some lawn chairs and a flag.

These Pool noodle swords with plastic piping inside make great weapons. Inspired by the medieval combat show, I even get to bat about the Mexican sometimes. He definitely has a leg up on the 5 year old next door but they sure have tons of fun.

Here Ysabeau is causing some problems at Spanish kids reading hour. She had to be removed for the sake of Spanish reading improvement.

By November I thought I would still have a 3 year old who refused the potty. That would be okay but she would have to be taught to do her own cloth diaper laundry. But we have been making headway and BY JOVE, I THINK SHE'S GOT IT.

It took some bribary, some movie watching in the bathroom. But we have had about 3 full days SANS diapers. I just put her in dresses without undies everyday and she seems to know when she needs to go.

She still needs them at night. I am trying to use cloth diapers but Ian thinks she might be a bit uncomfortable.....

Evening time is a chance, I hope, to begin calming down. The Mexican was trying to educate her about Pokemon with his character chart he is making. I can't tell if she is interested or not.

Ethan is not watching Dora the Explorer with Ysabeau and Xav (below). He said that Mexican boys call it "Exploda-dora" which I assume is not a friendly term.

Xav is super great. He is starting to get real mad when you put him in his high chair without the food actually being ready, but besides that he is a gem. His eyes sparkle and he is super accommodating of his siblings' antics.

After giving a great big smile like this he always gets so excited that he looks away as though if he kept on smiling he might combust with happiness.