Bad Reputation

If you are a good friend of mine and you move out to another city in the lower mainland I have been somewhat delinquent in making it out to those places to have a visit. My buddy Karen in Mission, Harmony and Kirsty in Maple Ridge, Meliss and Chris in Tsawwassen to name just a few! I sort of wait for people to come back to Vancouver to have a visit...I repent! Yesterday, let the record show, I drove, and drove some more until I reached the beautiful home of the Brooks family, who now live in Mission on a hill that looks out over the whole lower mainland, almost to my house way back in Vancouver...but not quite. We had a wonderful visit. We talked paint colours and room designations, and what rennos lie ahead and tried to keep Benjamin out of too much trouble in their very spacious home. What a fun day!

A Little Lesson:
Displaying mixed feelings is hard work. You want your face to show how happy you are for your friend and their beautiful new home, but you also want your face to show how life in Vancouver at church and at the academy (of music) is just not the same without them and they are missed! I am no actress.

Too Late

I planted my carrots too late this year and they became deformed baby carrots for my kid's lunches. The things we put our kids through.

A Little Lesson:
The expression "It's never too late!" doesn't apply to gardening.

235 miles

Heading to Wenatchee Washington to surprise my sister was one of those trips that the night before I was still trying to decide if I was still going to go. Even early the morning we left, I was still debating traveling 235 miles on Saturday and then another 235 back home again on Sunday. I'm sure glad we did. It was a special treat to be there!

A Little Lesson:

What words we let float around in our head often determines what we end up doing in life...when I was in my kitchen on Saturday morning my head was filled with these words...

235 miles, expensive gas, more school clothes shopping to do,

laundry to do, I'm tired, kids in carseats for six hours,

junky car snacks from Chevron

I tried to let those float away and in came...

little Hunter, Emily's buddy, my sister's first child's baptism,

bearing testimony, feeling the spirit, only once, smiles everywhere,

a sacred moment, Uncle Matt's sloppy joes.

the decision was made...we got in the car.

THE VIDEO IS FINALLY HERE!!!

Welcome Back

Yes, living here in Vancouver means saying a lot of good-byes.  But on the flip side of that coin, it also usually means that people often try to come back to this fabulous city of ours to visit.  I only got to give DeEtte a big huge hug after sacrament meeting at church, and then she was off, but that was all I needed.  Here are a few shots of their beautiful new home in Naramata.  See how much space there is for when my little troop comes to visit.

 A Little Lesson:

     With a good friend it doesn't matter how much time passes, reuniting is always worth the wait.

Carefully Orchestrated

Sometimes church needs us.  We have to talk to Sister so-and-so about this, and give Brother so-and-so that, play the piano for so and so or teach the so-and-sos.  I need church.  For me it is as physical and tangible as leaving cut flowers on the counter next to a water-filled vase.  Partaking of the sacrament with faith and humility brings about the ability to renew our sacred covenants we made at baptism.  Although I am not always able to find the reverence needed in my particular pew to fully appreciate this part of church, I strive to.  I also believe that somewhere in the sacrament talk is a sentence that if I, and I mean me, Shelley, girl from Canada, were to listen carefully and apply it, I would find life-changing experiences.  Even talks that seem dry or hard to follow, there is a simple phrase just for me.  I know a scripture will be read in Sunday school that may seem obvious and even old hat, but if I read it again carefully I will have a greater understanding. I believe there is a person there who will smile at me and I will be filled, and someone else who I will extend my love to and it will fill them. I know that this is the same for everyone else who walks through those chapel doors.  I don't begin to understand how our Heavenly Father orchestrates such things, but I know He does.

A Little Lesson:

Put flowers in water, before they die.

 

Too Quiet

      

Yesterday, I tried to get some composing done for the upcoming Christmas Nativity Festival (only 3 songs left!)  I could sort of hear my children making little noises here and there but it was awfully quiet. Clearly the expression when the cat's away the mice will play applies to humans as well.  I don't where Benjamin found the empty Nutella bottle, my suspicion is he has an accomplice, but he worked on it with dedication and diligence.  

    

And these two monkeys I was ready to throw them off a cliff.  It started with some innocent watering with the hose,then there was some mud, and then who knows.  Remember that mormon commercial in the 80's where the kids are playing in the mud with the hose, and the parents come home, instead of yelling, they grab there camera and then join in on the mud/hose experience. Well I grabbed the camera, I didn't totally yell, and I'll tell ya there was no joining them in the mud experience.

A Little Lesson:

     It is hard to get too upset with children who have actually managed to find something to do in you absence of concentrated attention.  These are the woes of temporarily neglecting your children. Tomorrow, I will compose early in the morning, long before they wake up. 

Suzuki Mom's Sister

I am a suzuki mom.  This really means I am involved in my children's music lessons and instrument learning in a way that would rival the dedication of Mother Theresa.  (Okay, that is a little stretch - but it feels like it.)  There are private lessons to sit-in, participate-in, take notes in, group lessons to watch, theory lessons to schedule, masterclasses, and recitals. The ONLY way I can possibly be a suzuki mom is because of the girl in the picture.  My dedicated sister Shauna (actually she is more of the metaphor for Mother Theresa)  each year since my oldest began, has taken the "too-young-to-sit-still-child" once a week, while I am in lessons with the older ones.  She started with Emily, moved on to Clara and yesterday was her first day taking my little Benjamin while I headed to the academy to sit in Clara's cello, Emily's violin, and Jordan's piano.  

A Little Lesson:

     My children adore my sister.  She plays with them, takes them for walks, reads to them, talks to them about things they are excited about, has l o n g conversations on the phone with them about very frivolous things...but not to her.  She doesn't try to get other stuff done while she looks after them.  She is an ongoing example to me.  When Clara wakes up in the morning, she usually hands out some hugs to her parents, bosses Benjamin around for a little while and then  says "I think I need to call Shauna."  

No Line...

Check out the line I encountered when I headed to the passport office yesterday to get the six of us passports for our upcoming trips in October!  It took me longer to fill out the forms than it did to get them reviewed, accepted, verified, stamped, and paid for!  In recent months/years I have seen countless 6'0clock news spots showing people lined up around the block!  

A Little Lesson:

     My mom told me about this office off of Lansdowne Road with no line-ups.  I really didn't believe her.  Not only was she right... she watched my kids, emptied my dishwasher, tidied up the puzzles, and played Uno with Clara, all while I was NOT standing in a line.   Thanks mom!

For Hours

   

I love when this happens.  Clara comes up with a 'game' and Benjamin is entertained for hours. Okay, not hours, but a lot of minutes.  She tied a skipping rope loosely around her neck and Benjamin took her for a walk around our house.  Around and around and around and around.  It was wonderful.

A Little Lesson:

     Some of the greatest toys are not toys.

Surprise!

      

Yesterday was my mom's birthday so I got the kids up about half an hour earlier than usual (I told my mom that that in itself is actually quite the birthday gift!) and got ready for school and headed over to my mom's house to wake her up, sing Happy Birthday and give her kisses, treats and hugs.  She was so happy to have her favourite people come and have a little visit. She was glad I came to...but I'm definitely next in line in the love department.  Love ya Mom!

A Little Lesson:

In our trip to Safeway, Jordan picked out the chocolate, Emily picked out the flowers, Clara picked out the balloon and Benjamin smiled at strangers.  It was so peaceful.  Nobody wined, nobody fought, nobody complained.  Everyone was happy.  Sometimes these things just work out just how you imagined.  For the record, I notice when this happens and I am grateful.

Did I seem relaxed?

                    

I began blogging on July 21st.  If I seemed relaxed and easy going it was probably because the dreaded "it's time to practice" hasn't been coming out of my mouth for the past two months.  Usually we continue working on music practice during the summer, but this year with all the camping trips and visitors Emily and Jordan took a real holiday.  Today is our first day back at lessons.  I feel like I'm eleven heading to school without my homework done!  Today I have to face the teachers and nervously smile and explain we really didn't do too much over the summer.  It's amazing how they manage to forget EVERYTHING!  Practicing this morning was painful.  Look how happy my Emily looks, and how diligent Jordan is working.

A Little Lesson:

     I try desperately not to let the opinion of others affect how I treat my kids.  I would like to think I gently encourage my children to pick up their instruments and practice because music is an important skill to acquire.  Not so much.  Sending my unpracticed child into a lesson, especially a Suzuki one, as I said before, brings anxiety and nerves that would rival the days of final exams at university.  It comes from two decades of heading into violin and piano lessons myself as a child trying to figure out how to make it look like I worked hard all week and hadn't.  I am fortunate to have exceptional teachers who work magic with my kids even when I have not managed to get it together.  It's funny how often "stuff" from our childhood bubbles to the top and makes itself known to us in the little corners of our adult lives.    

Finally!

                  

                

Yesterday my girls were more than delighted with the opportunity to become our in-house "apple pickers".  They were actually more like apple-picker-uppers as they were getting all the ones that fell on the ground.  They didn't care.  They've been watching these little balls of fruit for three months now.  "Are the apples ready?" became as irritating as the well known phrase "are we there yet?" Finally I was able to say "yes" to their constant plea. The girls opted to eat their newly picked apples for their dinner.  I certainly didn't mind.

A Little Lesson:

The assignment to 'plant a garden' seems to be somewhat obvious.  The skill of knowing how to grow things, the blessing of hard work, becoming industrious and self sufficient is all worthy of the task at hand.  I wonder if that prophet long ago, who asked the members of the church to do this simple assignment of planting a garden knew that all who did would also have children squeal with delight over the thrill of their harvest?  Probably.

High Speed Road Trip

                

Emily, Clara, Benjamin and myself woke early Saturday morning and drove for 6 hours to surprise cousin Hunter and his family who live in Wenatchee.  This weekend was Hunter's baptism.  We weren't sure if we could pull it off with all of the other commitments and activities but we managed to do it!  We arrived noon on Saturday with squeals of delight and elation!  Grandpa and Grandma and Auntie Shauna were already there and NO ONE knew, even them, that we were coming, so it was a BIG surprise.  The baptism was at 5pm and it was such a nice program.  Five other little eight year olds were also baptized.  What fun.  We then went to bed, woke up, went to church, got back into the car and headed home.  Once my sister throws up some of her fabulous pictures from her fabulous camera online (when we hang out together and snap photos here and there I feel like she drives the jaguar camera and I drive the jalopy camera from the Archie comics) I will throw some pictures together with some tunes and make a slideshow.  

For now....one has to drive through this quaint town called Leavenworth on the way to Wenatchee, where by law, every building must emenate traditional Bavarian design or architecture.  Did you ever think you would see a bushel of wheat on the side of a Subway?

A Little Lesson:

     When you think to yourself "hey you know what would be wonderful if we were to ...." Go for it I say!  Don't let yourself talk yourself out of it.  As they say, drink deeply from the cup of life.

Strange Findings

Clara likes to putter around the house doing odd and strange little games that I'm not aware of. She likes to put little cups of water in the freezer to see them freeze, and take toilet paper balls wet them and make pretend concoctions and here in the pictures is a green pineapple ice cube tray filled with chocolate chips that she had forgotten about and left behind, to Benjamin's delight!

A Little Lesson:

I'll admit I don't get in the way of imagination activities that I'm not a part of, even if it will require heroic clean up afterwards. Yes, I believe in letting our children spread their wings. But I am even a bigger fan of the 25-75 minutes it occupies them that I can keep on doing what I'm doing!

My Muses

My  w i n d  b e n e a t h  m y  w i n g s  husband recently purchased a 'recording studio' for me so that I could put all the songs I compose down on something more permanent.  I try to weave composing time into my sock-finding, bath-filling and bottle-fumigating day.  (bottle fumigating for those of you who live a less gong-show life than I do, is when you find a bottle that has been discarded by the infant child in a place you were not aware of and discover it many, many days later) We actually live on a hill that allows me to see out my window the snow covered mountains, the beautiful cityscape and hundred year-old trees all year round.  But what I most like to use as my muse while composing is the artwork of my children.  I never tire of staring at it.  

    

A Little Lesson:

     All mothers face the same conundrum of what to do with all of the artwork that comes through the house.  Some say, store it in bins. Others will say, take a picture and make a book. And some mothers will mount their children's art in frames for all to see. Whatever you do, DO NOT CASUALLY THROW IT ONTO THE TOP OF THE GARBAGE UNDER THE SINK WHERE AN UNSUSPECTING CHILD DISCOVERS THEIR BELOVED WORK OF ART LAYING BESIDE THE EGGSHELLS AND ORANGE PEELS FROM BREAKFAST.   Believe me when I say, there are not enough words in the english language to explain that one away!

O Canada

 I didn't mind that our hardworking Canadian athletes only brought home 3 gold medals.  It was tough competition, we only have a small pool of people to choose from (34 million) and it's cold up here in Canada, we are lucky to even be invited to the summer Olympics.  But I'll tell you what I was most sad about...the world only got to hear our anthem three times.  I think it is one of the most beautiful songs ever written.  I like to weave it into every song I play on the piano.  Especially prelude music for church.  I gently bring in it's beautiful melodic phrases as my fingers swirl in and out of hymns.  It even has the phrase God keep our land glorious and free....I love that!

Today Jordan will be accompanying his school when they sing the anthem in their assembly.  It was one of his summer projects to learn it.  

A Little Lesson:

     Imagine the pressure to compose a piece of music that will stand the test of time.  The words have to have meaning generation after generation and even centuries later.  Thank you Lavallee for the music and Weir for the English lyrics and Happy 100th Birthday as it was first performed in English in 1908.  

Ten Days...

click here to see what she's sleeping with...

Clara came ten days overdue on January 10th, which also turns out to be 10 days past the kindergarten entry for 2008/9 cut off.  As the older kids prepared their new backpacks and new lunch bags and new school clothes, Clara looked on with longing eyes.  She of course would love to go to school.  She is ten days too young.  She improvises and carries around her 'homework' that she likes to do throughout the day.  She found a workbook that had a two on it and thought this is a low number it ought to be good for me.  (grade two!) Yesterday we sat on the couch together and did 'homework'.  She is a trooper.  An extra year home with my darling Clara is just fine with me.  

A Little Lesson:

     You just never know why things work out the way they do.  Perhaps Clara will meet a lifelong friend in grade five or maybe get that teacher in grade eight that inspires her to become a zoologist.  Things always just seem to work out in the end.

Remember when...

First Day of School 2008

First Day of School 2007

(Woops, no pictures taken - just of our newborn baby Benjamin)

First Day of School 2006

First Day of School 2005

First Day of School 2004

A Little Lesson:

They really really do grow up. My favourite stage would be, whatever one I'm thinking about at that present moment.Oh what I would do togo back in time for just a few days and hold my baby Jordan again, stop the clock today and make cookies with Clara forever, or jump in the future and visit my grandchildren. This quote used to hang on my wall in my missionary apartment in Japan...

Time is too slow for those who wait

Too swift for those who fear

Too long for those who grieve

Too short for those who rejoice

But for those who love...

Time is eternity.

I Can't Remember!

"How many?"  Four scoops. "How many mom??"  Four.  "One........two.........how many scoops?"  Four. "What number am I on?"  I don't know.  "I think I'm on two."  Okay. "two...three"  "I can't remember mom."  Don't worry it will still taste great.

I give her a small measuring cup so that she gets to scoop it lots of times.  She almost always looses track.  We almost always have extra chocolate chips in our cookies.  It's one of those mistakes we like around here.  

A Little Lesson:

When we really get why we're on the earth, we will see the mistakes we make and learn from, are the chocolate chips in our cookie.  

"And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness.  I give unto men weakness that they may be humble and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."

Ether 12:27 (Book of Mormon)

Even better, we are promised we have a loving Heavenly Father who has told us if we repent he will also say of our mistakes..."I can't remember!"

All Better

His fever is gone and his smile is back.  I was sure grateful to my mom and dad who took my little sweetheart for the day on Saturday so we could travel around the city on public transit, and he could rest.  His latest is folding his arms while he waits for everyone to sit down, food to be brought to the table and start the prayer.  He likes prayer time, it's calm and quiet.  He looks at each of us during the prayer and grunts out something to see if we'll look at him.  He likes people to look at him even more than he likes prayer time.  

 A Little Lesson:

     A little bout of sickness always reminds me how wonderful it is to be healthy.    

They Don't Match Up

We love it when the Loose family comes into town.  They have four children.  We have four children.  None of them match up properly though, Jenna plays with Emily even though she is the same age as Jordan.  Jordan plays with Jacob even though Jacob is the same age as Emily.  Tyler plays with the boys, and Clara plays with the girls.  All of us parents smile and think just wait about seven or eight more years and they will all be so happy we are all friends.  

 A Little Lesson:

    Hardly anyone ever marries their parent's best friend's kids.  I know that.  But it's sure fun to smile and think with such a wonderful bunch of kids surely one of them will end up with one of them! Giggle giggle.

 

The Spread

Colleen, Violet and I headed out to see Tami Lyn who recently moved to a beautiful new home in Pitt Meadows.  When we arrived, there was a spectacular spread of delicious appetizers on her marble island all beautifully manicured and coordinated to perfection.   I think I'm doing great when I rip open a bag of nacho chips and serve it with my home-made salsa.  After eating prawns, crab dip, sweedish meatballs, pistachios, melted camembert cheese, roasted walnuts, artichoke dip, french bread etc.... we moved into her living room and reminisced of days gone by, caught up on the present and shared our dreams about our future.  Thank you Darrin and Craig for watching all ten children, putting them to bed, and tidying up all so a few chicks could have a little visit.  

 A Little Lesson:

   Great getaways often come at the cost of others helping you out. Thank you again.

Baptism

Emily is eight years old and so are all of her friends at church.  These days we are spending at least once a month (if not twice) attending all of her friend's baptisms.  Tonight is Ariyana Milad's, one of Emily's dearest friends, special day.  Ariyana asked Emily to sing a primary song with her as a duet for a special musical number.  It was beautiful.  The evening was filled with inspiring music and testimonies.  

A Little Lesson:

    Sometimes we get dressed up on a Sunday evening because we know we should come out and support a church activity.  And then there are times we smile and relish in the opportunity to support those we love in their special days.  This was one of them.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles!

We wanted to do something different.  We wanted to do something exciting.  We wanted all fourteen of us to have a fun, memorable and breathtaking experience...

D e s t i n a t i o n :  Make it to the top of Grouse Mountain!

We drove to Granville Island.

We took an aquabus to BC Place Stadium.

We took a skytrain to Waterfront station.

We took a seabus to Lonsdale Quay.

We took a citybus to the bottom of Grouse Mountain.

We took a gondola up the mountain.

We took pictures of the spectacular view and then...

we took all those things back home again!

A Little Lesson:

Who new that public transit could bring so many smiles to so many children for so many hours!

Hot Baby!

Last night my little guy spent the evening fighting a fever.  He woke up about every two hours trying to find comfort tossing himself between his parents in the big bed.  He was that kind of hot that you can hardly hold them, as it makes you too hot yourself.  His eyes were glassy, his cheeks were flushed and his cry was soft and raspy.  It's no fun being sick!

A Little Lesson:

     When a child goes down for the count my head quickly projects forward and thinks, okay, what will we be missing, what will I have to cancel, who will I have to fill in for me for whatever it is I am signed up for, what will Craig have to go to that I will stay home etc.  Perspective.   I am grateful for the ease and comfort we have as parents with sick kids.  In modern days, parents don't worry if a fever is life-threatening, the latest strain of some terrible disease raging through the village, or what the neighbour children had that took their sight and put them without the use of their legs.  We just have to worry if we have enough infant tylenol to make it through the night.  

Internet DOWN!

The only thing that made the past four days bearable was the fact we had our wonderful friends the Looses and Keelers over for the weekend. On Saturday morning at exactly 6:03 am (when I usually like to post my blogs) my internet service stopped. Just like that. No warning, no phone call, no message telling me, don't worry we'll be back up in a few minutes. I waited. I waited some more. I hung out with my friends. FOUR days later, approximately 20 minutes ago, my internet returned. I would like to grumble loudly about Telus (my internet provider and my husband's employer), but they are the company that pays for me and my family to have a roof over my head and food on the table. Instead, I will grumble quietly to myself.

A Little Lesson:

Checking email, posting a blog, a good crepe recipe, the daily weather report, directions to my friend's house out in Mission, what does it cost to put in a pool, when to pick Japanese tomatoes, what time is the baseball game playing, how much does the gondola at Grouse mountain cost, Rachel's phone number, that hilarious youtube spot to show my buddies are just a few of the reasons I went to my computer room, stopped, realized my computer was down, and felt completely helpless. I would like to say instead I read more books to my children, cleaned my house even more thorough, and wrote letters to distant relatives overseas. That would be a lesson learned indeed. No, that did not happen. Instead, I realized we need to buy a generator. If in fact this city is going to be in an earthquake I want access to my computer no matter what!