FIVE PEOPLE TWELVE TIMES

I'm joining Tara Whitney (probably my favourite photographer) in a monthly photography challenge.

I'm going to organize a family self portrait each month for the rest of the year. No matching outfits or fancy make up...just us, as we are, doing our thing. I don't want my kids to look back on our life and wonder where their mother was or what she looked liked! I'm also going to write a little bit of the goings ons of our family at the time of the photo, and maybe even make a little book at the end of the year?

So...I'm not off to a great start, being February 10th and all, but I do have a current painting Clara did of our family.

I love that she wrote everyone's age above their heads, except for Jake and I. I remember never knowing how old my mom was growing up. She always told me she was 29, and then all of a sudden (like a year later) she was 39. It was very confusing.

Clara always draws Jake in a black shirt. She thinks this is his favourite colour. I think it is actually blue.

And here I am with short hair. Since June last year, I have kept my hair above my shoulders. My husband is still in mourning for my long hair.

It is true, I wear grey a lot, particularly in the winter. I feel like I can only pull of a bright colour if I have a tan.

Sadly, Clara is phasing out her princess/fairy/pink n' frilly love affair. Apparently it is not cool to dress up as Cinderella or sleep with your Aurora doll when you are in Grade 1. Currently, she likes the colour blue and still loves to play with Barbies and dolls. She also still dresses up as a wedding girl and likes to look beautiful (which she is).

I have written a lot about Sam lately. He still loves the colour green the best. He has been chewing non stop on his sleeves which makes me crazy. And when I put a short sleeved shirt on him, he chews the neck of the shirt. It is really gross. I guess it is a little better than him chewing his toenails.

Sam and Clara and Daddy also have been playing Mario on the Wii every night after dinner. The kids are really good. Better than me, for sure.

January also brought the arrival of the bunk bed for the boys, Sam turning 5, Charline from France, our house almost getting organized, Jake's disappearing gut (he looks hot), a somewhat regular Church attendance, a new layout in our bedroom...

ME THE TOURIST

Besides rediscovering the joys of grocery shopping without 3 children (or any kind of shopping for that matter), Charline's arrival has also had other perks. Like, rediscovering the city I live in. It is such a beautiful city too. I am so thankful to live here even if it is not summer yet and the forecast this week is rain.

In the past week we have hiked through a few different parks, visited a few different Markets (bought some fudge...apparently they don't have this in France. No oatmeal either), went to the Aquarium, saw the baby beluga (who is more of adolescent now than a baby), and I finally took the kids on the Suspension Bridge.

I have also discovered that I love taking pictures in the trees.

The kids love this picture...kind of like Where is Waldo?

Seriously, this is 1 of 3 pictures I have of me and all my kids. My goal this month is to take some pictures of us having fun together, even if it is me holding the camera out.

DEAR SAM

Dear Sam,

5 has been challenging so far.

Sometimes when you are unhappy with me you kick me in the shins and tell me that you don't like me. Sometimes you make threats, such as "I am never going to play with you again" or "I'm going to run outside and the wolves will get me." Sometimes you try to negotiate with me. You ask me "what are you going to do if I don't do what you want me to?"

Getting you to come can be very difficult and can take a very long time, and so is getting you stay close me. You love to run ahead...really, far ahead.

You love to torment your brother and make him scream, as well as your sister. You love to talk about pee and poo and penises and you think it is hysterical to show your friends your bare butt on the playground. Impressively, you can also burp on command, and who needs a toilet when there are trees and walls and sidewalks to pee on?

Mostly I am calm. Sometimes I yell. A few times I have pinched you.

But you are still my darling Sam. My boy who loves hot sauce, olives and cuddling. Who loves to laugh, go fast and have a good time. And you may be stubborn and persistent, but these are qualities that I think can be valuable.

I do love you to the moon and back Sam. And I know you love me too cause you just whispered that to me when I tucked you into bed tonight. Sleep well, my love. And hopefully tomorrow you won't run too far ahead!

THE FIRST FALL FROM THE TOP BUNK

Last night was the first fall from the top bunk. Will was showing off his going up and down moves (he is quite proud of himself), and got a little too cocky. He tried to dismount by hanging and dropping instead of using the ladder.

This is him telling me (in his without words way) the story of what happened:

And this is him showing me what happened after he dropped unexpectedly onto the bottom bed and then did a backwards somersault onto the floor:

No injuries, thankfully.

How is is going with our au pair, you ask?

Well, we think Charline is the loveliest (and also a foot taller than me). Day 7, and I am almost used to having someone live with us.

These have been some of my personal highlights this past week: 75 glorious minutes at Wholefoods all by myself, 2 runs in Lighthouse Park with my dog, holding hands with Clara and walking to school together just the 2 of us, not rudely waking Will from his nap and stuffing him in the car so I can pick the kids up from school, and tomorrow...a date with my husband!

I also have not pinched my kids this week, or really even yelled at them. Our meals have been top notch too, even when Jake didn't come home for dinner one night, and I have been practicing mon Francais. I'm going to be fluent before I know it.

I just need to stop worrying about if she is happy, is she having fun, does she like Vancouver, is it too rainy, too cold, does she think my kids are crazy, does she think I am crazy, is she homesick, did she like the tacos I made, is she lonely, is she annoyed that Kirby keeps sneaking into her room...??

Here we are on a little walk:

65

It is my mom's birthday today.

I love my mom. I feel so wonderfully blessed to be her daughter.

And I really do love living next door to her.

As a surprise for her birthday, my Auntie Shannon (her sister) flew from Ontario late last night. I love my Auntie Shannon too. They used to have the same haircut and they look kind of alike, so I always was comforted when I used to sleep over at her house when I was younger. That, and the fact that they had fruit loops or lucky charms in the cupboard, helped ease my homesickness.

I took my mom out for tea and petite sandwiches today (my favourite kind of sandwiches...they always taste so much better when they are small). It was really quite lovely.

I ordered a vanilla matcha latte. So good.

After a morning at the bouncy castle, Will falls asleep while working at his tool bench:

It is always alarming when you go peek on your kids while they are sleeping, and they are not in bed where you left them. Although it didn't take me too long to find Will, unlike the other night, when I finally found Sam in our master closet with his jammie pants down around his ankles.