new start

i haven#t posted in over a year!  that is just nuts.  i think i always want to post but never do.  i have an idea for posting more this summer, and i think i will see if the girls are game.  about time they helped me with this thing!

20 Questions with Ruby

1. what is your favourite colour? Pink and Mint
2. What is your favourite toy? Lalaloopsy
3. What is your favourite fruit?  apple, pear and grapes
4. What is your favourite TV show? Lalaloopsy
5. What do you like for lunch? Ham sandwich
6. What is your favourite thing to wear? Grey sparkly shirt, jean skirt, leggings, high tops
7. What is your favourite game? Party! Party! Party!
8. What is your favourite snack? Ketchup crisps
9. What is your favourite animal? dog and cat
10. What is your favourite song? Call Me Maybe
11. What is your favourite book? Rainbow Magic books
12. Who is your best friend? Lottie and Eliza
13. What is your favourite cereal? Rice Krispies
14. What do you like to do outside? Ride Bike, trampoline
15. What is your favourite drink? Chocolate Milk
16. What was your favourite holiday? france and USA
17. What do you take to bed with you? Lalaloopsy and a book
18. What is your favourite dessert? Ice cream
19. What do you want for dinner? Pizza
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? Fashion Designer

winter

the days are starting to get longer,  the weather is getting a tad bit better (knock on wood!), and some of my bulbs are starting to peek through the soil.  i am looking forward to spring.

Quiet Time

I am really enjoying these last lazy days, the ones between Christmas and going back to school.  The girls are playing at their natural pace, enjoying doing the things they want to do when they want to do them.  We get to lay around in our pajamas until lunch time, and there is no morning rush where (no matter how hard i try) i lose my cool.  We have stayed fairly insulated from the outside world, and it has been nice to reconnect and to spend quiet and not-so-quiet time together.

365

I decided to do a 365 photo challenge this year. I will be posting my photos toy Flickr stream as well as a tumblr that I started for this purpose. If you would like to see my attempt at taking pics that aren't 100% about ruby and esme, please have a look occasionally. I can't promise they will be great, but I can promise that they will be there.
A few of my friends are joining me in this endeavour. We have decided in retrospect to go with a daily prompt, after beginning the month with a colour idea (tungsten glow).  where we are getting our prompt is at:  photo-a-day

End of year

The last month of 2012 was incredibly busy.  Ruby was getting ready for her P1 nativity, in which she was a Twinkling Star.  Esme was getting ready for Santa, and everything that comes with that when you are 3 years old and actually "get it" for the first time.  We were all doing a count down until our visit from Nana and Papa Arty.  We spent time getting all decorated, and presents wished for and bought.  It is a crazy month when you have two little girls who are enthralled with all the magic that happens at the end of December.

With the wish list came the realisation by the girls that they really didn't have anything they truly needed.  Sure there were some new toys that looked very cool, and crafty things won't go wrong when found under the tree on christmas morning.  But the girls needed to realise again how lucky and privileged they are, and not everyone has such a carefree life as they do.  We spoke to the girls and suggested that in lieu of one of their gifts this year, that they use that money towards a charity of their choice.  Of course we had to explain what a charity was, and all that, but the girls were really excited to be able to choose a charity and then help others in this world.  Ruby has been learning to read in P1, and i have told her that not all girls get to go to school let alone learn to read, and that in some countries there are no books or schools for children to go to.  Ruby decided that she wanted her money to go to those children, especially girls who wanted to learn to read like she is doing right now.  For Ruby we chose the charity Room to Read http://www.roomtoread.org/.  Esme, is completely enthralled with elephants right now, so she wanted her donation to go to "elephant babies who have no mommies or daddies", so we chose The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust http://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/.  We hope to have this become a tradition that we do every year with the girls.

It has been a long year with many milestones, great memories, and we have much to look forward to in the coming year.  It is hard when you are in the midst of the daily grind to step back and assess your life and realise that it is wonderful and that you have much to be thankful for.  This year, whenever I hit a tough patch I thought of my friend Becca whose son Ben has been battling cancer this past year.  He turned 2 in October while undergoing Chemo for a cancer that he was given a 5% chance of beating.  I can't imagine how hard things are for them, and I think about them daily.  when i am frustrated with esme getting her shoes on or with ruby not wanting to practice her phonics, i try to remember that it is  nothing compared to what Becca and her partner Tom are dealing with everyday.  They have spent Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years in UCLA medical centre, and here's to the hope that Ben will be home soon, and cured, and able to show us how wonderful and beautiful life is for decades to come.....

Thankful

In the grand scheme of things, i am a pretty lucky girl.  always have been, and i hope i ride the wave of lucky for the rest of my life.  at times when i was low, good things came along and made life good again.  sure, maybe not as quickly as i would have liked, or maybe not the way i dreamt, but in the end, all those things made me who i am today, and who i am is one lucky person. 

thanksgiving is always a little of a let down, because it is such an american experience.  no matter how much i try to emulate it here, it just doesn't match up.  so we eat a little better on that day, skype to family back home, and look forward to christmas time when Santa, Nana and Papa Arty will be here.  Nevertheless, I am thankful for many things, and reading friends reasons for being thankful, i take stock of how lucky i am every November.

I am thankful for my little family, my healthy, happy, smart, funny, loving girls.  My sarcastic, loving, hard-working, witty husband. My daft puppy dog.  I am thankful for all my friends, both old and new.  I am thankful for being comfortable, having a house and heating, and food.  I am thankful that I get to be at home and raise my daughters.  I am thankful for my family back home that i don't get to see as often as i would like, but they are still there if i need them.  I am thankful for my health, and the fact that i get to wake up everyday to this life.  and right now i am thankful that david didn't eat all the chocolate last night so i can have a little after the really stressful walk to school.  it is the little things that make you realize just how lucky you are......