the best cd ever!

Ok, I'm officially sick of Raffi. Don't get me wrong, I love the guy, corner grocery store is a staple in our house. However, I listened to it all though my childhood on my Sears record player, then passed it on to my first child, now four and a half, and then to my second. Now after 28 years of devotion, I am ready for a change.

This past week we went to Vancouver and did our usual visit to Kidsbooks. And that's where I found it, the savior to any parents ears who might actually want to enjoy the music their kids keep playing over and over again. Snacktime, the best cd ever to come into the hands of a weary parent. Songs like Pollywog in a Bog and Humungous Tree and Here Come the Geese not only had our son and daughter, yes the baby has rhythm, dancing, it also left us laughing. Thank you Barenaked Ladies!

stay awake

Over the past couple of days we've had some friends come and stay with us with their newborn babies. It is so amazing to hold these little ones, to see my little one crawl up to them, so fascinated by the newness of their lives. Its almost like she knows them from before they all arrived on this earth.

As I was looking at some pictures that my friend had taken of her with her baby, it reminds me that mine was like that too not so long ago. Time goes so quickly, spent on complaining about sleepless nights, spit up stained clothes, the ever elusive shower that you try so hard take before the sun goes down.

I can get so lost in the story, so lost in the dream that I forget to stay awake. Having newborns in the house reminds me that the magic is right now. It is about truly surrendering to this moment and being present because before you know it, your baby looks like Gulliver on his travels as she pulls herself up on the playpen and looks in at an image that not so long ago was once her.

This picture is of my little one only 8 months ago..it feels so far away.

Stay awake to this moment right now.

a flower and a peach

This morning, as I was eating breakfast with my family, my daughter looked over at the windowsill and pointed at the Black eyed susans in the vase. We said, "flower." A minute later she was looking at me smiling and then she said her first word, "flower." We couldn't believe it. A full two syllable word, flower, just like that. It was amazing and perfect because her name is Violet. And then all by herself, she ate an entire peach, just holding it in her hand, skin and all.

It's these moments that make me so grateful that I am home with our children and so grateful that my husband is too. The most precious things can happen at the most ordinary times, like enjoying a bowl of granola on a sunny summer morning with my family, watching our one year old eat a peach and looking at the black eyed susans from our garden that would inspire our baby to say her first word. Magic.

a grown up popsicle stand

This is a historic week in Duncan, we are hosting the North American Indigenous Games. Youth from all over North America including Florida, New York, Saskatchewan and of course British Columbia are here to compete in various sports. We went to the opening ceremonies yesterday and it was amazing. Thousands of people had gathered (including our very own premier) to welcome the 25 teams to the valley. For a small town like Duncan, this is a pretty big deal. It was so amazing to see all of these First Nations youth gathered to compete for the week and share a sense of solidarity and peace, it was really inspiring.

Now, with this many people in town (the estimate was 20,000), my friends and I thought it would be prudent on our part to make sure no one got thirsty in the hot sun. So, as a group of 30 somethings we set up our own popsicle and cold drinks stand (well it was actually a red wagon with a cooler on it). We were all so excited this morning, we had signs, we had the wagon and we had the hot sun. We packed up the coolers with ice, water and popsicles and headed out to the sports venue.

It was great. The sun was out, the people were thirsty and we had a slogan that you couldn't ignore. "Ice cold drinks and popscicles, one for $2 or 3 for $5" The only problem was that we couldn't keep the popsicles from melting, despite the small glacier of ice we had in the cooler. We ended up giving most of them away to some happy kids. The water was a big hit, especially since they had three lovely ladies bringing it to them right to their lawn chairs! So tomorrow, we are coming back more organized and with more selection. Water, pop, ice tea and chips! We're sure to be a hit.

The truth is, yes, we would all like to earn a little money (I am saving up for my very own bike, but I'll blog about that later), but being with such good friends, having a chance to laugh all day and keep the visitors of the Cowichan Valley well hydrated, that's what it's all about. This is a great event for our community, but it's also a great event for us as friends; a group of 30 something girls having a good time on a summer's day.