Being a Mama through it all

I've noticed that in the past few posts, I wrote about Maelie's comments to me... and I made it sound pretty sad. Of course, it's touching but it was also in a joking way. I have to share my thoughts about it all.

I am proud that Maelie is able to tell me what she thinks and feels so purely and innocently. She doesn't want to hurt me when she says those comments. She tries to say it kindly, but then she also shows me that she is secure enough in her relationship with me to say comments like she does. She knows I will love her no matter what.

I am also proud that she is independent and confident. She loves being a softie at home. But in public, she enjoys showing her independence. She is a strong girl. She communicates her needs very well. Don't we all want our kids to grow up and be able to handle life and its challenges? I certainly don't want her to hurt, but I also let her know that I will always be there for her.

So for those who think that she has already packed her bags and is ready to move out... I will let you in on a secret. She isn't leaving this house fo goof until she is 40 years old!!

and where were YOU last night?

Yesterday evening, i went out. yes, as in out of the house, when it was dark even. Those who know me know that I don't go out much in the evenings, let alone stay up beyond 8:30.

I just happened to have won tickets last week to attend The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at the National Art Centre.

It was incredibly funny, and worth going to! It was my first time at the NAC. We laughed a lot and it was also very *touching* at times. Considering this is a rather stressful week, I am really really glad I went!

Thanks Andrea for raffling off these tickets!

this mom job? i think i quit!

remember my post about Maelie not wanting to sit with me on the bus?

Well this is our discussion today:

"Maelie, my boss said it was ok for me to take a day off to go to your Track and Field day at school next week!"

"oh. but don't hang around with me. I want to be with my friends"

"oh, ok"

"you know mom, it's really really ok if you don't want to come. uh...you can come if you want. But it's ok with me if you don't"

um.... am i understanding this right? my daughter wants nothing to do with me anymore?

*snif* *snif*
time for me to get a new job.

fixing a fib

I was in the tub earlier this evening. A long awaited bath to relax! Bill was away for 4 days so I didn't get and time to relax all weekend.

I heard a big knock at the door. Bill told Maelie to answer it. A guy asked if her parents were home. So Bill got up and went to the door. Lucky for him he spoke english.

It went something like this:
"hi! how are you today! I don't know if you heard of this place in Hull, yadda yadda, 50% off for 6 people yadda yadda.... " and much more yadda yadda. "So you want to buy it?" (tickets for savings at a restaurant)

Bill's response "well I will have to discuss this with my wife, she is not home right now"

My eyes got big and I was just hoping Maelie wouldn't comment on THAT.

The man gave his contact info on a card and left. First thing after the door shut "Dad, why did you say mom wasn't there? She's upstairs in the tub"

I couldn't help but laugh by myself up there! Now I need to explain to Maelie how that little fib... just because Bill is uncomfortable saying no to marketers, is still a fib and is not right. We need to be honest.

Another life lesson.

and so this is Sunday...

and what have you done? another weekend over, a new week's just begun....

ok, so I am just making up songs here.

Our weekend was rather busy, well mainly Saturday. In the morning we ran errands and visited a few garage sales. we got a bike rack for the car. Maelie went to a bday party in the afternoon. Afterwards, we went to Sportsmart in Ottawa and got a bike for me. Bill's bike is a little bit too tall for me. We are all set now for bike rides! Unfortunately, today was cleaning the pets day so we did not get a chance to go yet. I HAD to do it at some point... the rabbit was pretty smelly! He is adorable though....



I was really exhausted today after a busy weekend so I just ordered some pizza as you can see.



Yesterday while Maelie was at the party, I ran around a few stores and stumbled upon these:



Yes.... they are Crocs for the cure... my heart melted as I saw them and I knew I needed to have them! just like when I see cute post-it notes!

ok, I'll sit with someone else's kid

Maelie had a note in her back pack today. They are going to the agriculture museum! Lots of farm anumals there.

Of course being the *keener* mom... I want to volunteer to go!

"Mom, are you coming to the farm ?"

Thinking that this meant she really wanted me to go, I responded, "Of course I want to go! if they need me I will"

Maelie suddenly got a disappointed look.

"well, you're not sitting with me on the bus."

Rejection.... already.... let me wallow in self-pity.

First visit of the season

Tonight we went for a nice little visit to the duck pond. It's more a goose & seagull & bird & duck pond... but we like 'em all! and when we have bread and tortillas and duck feed, they like us too.



I warned Maelie to be careful with the gigantic geese... they pinch pretty bad! She dared getting them close... and she also insisted on having a hissing contest with them!



We brought Maelie's bike along so she could ride on the pathway. Unfortunately, it started raining before we got to the end of the path, so we turned around and came back home.



You could never tell that just a week ago she still needed training wheels!

Menu Plan Monday

If I remember well (last week being so far away!) we hardly bought any groceries lasy week other than produce. We left Friday morning to visit family out of town so we ended up eating out with my mom. This weekend we did a lot of eating out, enough for me to be sick of it! This upcoming week, I am having a lot of goodbye lunches out with colleagues due to my changing jobs next Monday. So for dinner, I will try and keep it simple.

Monday: travelling day so we ate chinese

Tuesday: soup and sandwiches and salad

Wednesday: chicken with veggies and rice

Thursday: pasta and veggies

Friday: one item chosen from someone elses Menu Plan on Org junkies site

Back from a weekend away

This weekend Maelie and I headed off to visit my family. We got extremely lucky and had GORGEOUS sunny days!



Maelie was spoiled with attention and treats as usual.



SHe showed off her newfound biking skills to every member of our family. She is really really good.

Today was a rather cold and rainy day. We drove home and took it easy all evening.

Tomorrow is back to the routine! This week will be short and many changes are ahead... I am changing workplaces next Monday. It is a positive change but a change is always stressful no matter how good.

There she goes

This week, Maelie was determined to ride her bike on 2 wheels. We put the training wheels up high (they were up to the sides so they would not touch the ground).

Maelie spent countless hours this week going up and down the road, getting pedal marks, scrapes and scratches from the pedals and falls.

Yesterday she was able to do about 20 feet but did not know how to brake.




Today, off she went to impress Susan, a neighbor down the street that she likes. She rode her bike well and she used her brakes.



My little girl isn't so little is she?

Menu Plan Monday

I decided that this would be a special edition of Menu Plan Monday for me. It is the "use up stuff that's sitting in your freezer" edition. I am hoping to only have to spend on stuff like produce, milk and bread this week. No meats or grains.

It's going to be a busy, sunny week.

Monday: Dinner out with company from Winnipeg

Tuesday: Crockpot Barbecue Chicken with veggies and plain barley

Wednesday: Chicken tournedos, rice, salad

Thursday: Pasta with homemade sauce (frozen)and veggies

Friday: To be determined off of someone elses menu at Org Junkies Menu Plan Monday

Hopefully a few of these meals will be eaten out on the deck! Sun, sun and more sun!

Tulip Festival & Mother's Day

Maelie and I headed off to the Tulip Festival today. She really wanted to go see the flowers. Of course, we didn't see ALL the flowers but we did see a bunch. Bill said that he wasn't too interested in looking at flowers.. so we did the mother/daughter thing.



Now tell me living in the National Capital area is not gorgeous...





and fun...





I wouldn't trade in my Mother's Day for anything in the world!





Thanks to all the moms that helped make ME become a mom by creating me and Bill!

How I love this little girl...

a Bratz bday party

A little friend on the street invited Maelie to her bday party. It was a group of 8 girls and the mom had hired "Cloe" from Bratz to come over and hang out with the kids, dress them up, make them up and show them some moves. All in all it was a cute party.




Which girl wouldn't like THIS make-up kit?



They did a bit of singing:



A bit of dancing:



And a whole lot of glittering!

cards & flowers

These are the cards I received from Maelie. The yellow one has a poem inside:

"Dear Mom,
I will love you forever
and forever you will be
The most wonderful mother.
You mean everything to me.

I thought of buying you flowers
in the usual way
But I knew you would prefer
A FOREVER bouquet!"

This is the forever bouquet:



In daycare the worked for quite a while on a secret project. They painted the pots, and planted the flowers. They put a handprint on the card. I sure hope I manage to keep the flowers alive!



Although I don't actually like the commercial aspect of Mother's Day, do you want to know what I love the best about it? It's the reason I have to celebrate it. I am a Mom. Nothing beats being a Mom. and I will forever be grateful for this.

Bless all the women out there who would have always wanted to be a mom, but never had the chance.

'twas the night before Mother's Day

Maelie came home from school on Thursday with part of the Mother's Day present she made at school. She kept reminding me not to look in her bag. When we got home, she ran upstairs. When I went upstairs a bit later, I walk into the washroom which now had an array of colorful towels all over the floor. I asked Maelie why my the towels were spread out there. She stated that she had to move them from the linen closet.

"Mom, I hid your present in the closet so don't look there."

"Don't worry sweetheart, I won't look. You can trust me."

"well, ok, i'll trust you. but just this once. never again."

how nice to know I will never be trusted again!

_______________________

Friday, Maelie brought home 2 cards and a present from daycare. She gave me the cards and said I could ONLY see the cards. So I looked at them and of course, loved them dearly. When we got home, it wasn't even 5 minutes before she brought me both my presents (from daycare and class) and she said "there mom, you may as well open them now! I mean, you SAW the cards already! So now you have to open the presents."

LOL I love how she is so overwhelmed with excitement that she can't contain herself! I know the feeling too well... to this day, I am still like that. The joy of giving brings incredible feelings!

Menu Plan Monday

I'm pretty late with my Menu Plan. Actually, I almost just didn't do it!
I have this dire need to bake something but ran out of time and energy this weekend! I will therefore keep my menu simple, but will compensate with a bit of baking. At some point.

I realized today as I was thinking of menus that most of my favorite things are not the favorites of the other people in this household. I for one would eat rice every day and not get sick of it. Bill pours ketchup all over it, and Maelie says "rice again?" if I make it more than once a week! :)

Monday: Chicken breasts (oven baked with only salt and pepper)with broccoli, potato balls (recipe below) and watermelon

Tuesday: Ground chicken with pasta & mushroom sauce & salad

Wednesday: Sandwich tortillas and salad & veggies (hoping for pic-nic if warm)

Thursday: breakfast for supper (eggs & toast)

Friday: To be determined... will go through links at Org Junkie and select something from one of the other Menu Plans

___________
Potato Balls

This is a recipe I made up for Maelie when she was 2 and she LOVES it. You can technically hide any veggies in there.

- boil potatoes and mash them
- pan fry an onion and mushrooms cut in tiny pieces
- Steam broccoli
- grate a cup of cheddar cheese

Once all of these are ready, mash them up all together. The cheese, broccoli, onion and mushrooms make the whole mixture taste great.
Once all mashed together, roll into small balls.
Ok, so I don't roll the mixture into balls for the grown ups. They eat it like mashed potatoes. But for kids, it is like finger food.

Jump rope

Maelie is learning to jump rope. Some girls at school are able to do it, so she has been practicing a lot. She is definitely getting better!


I noticed that in all the pics I took while she was jumping, she has her tongue sticking out!

another Saturday gone by

Our day started off nice and slowly... I washed my floors in the kitchen and washrooms. I always have such a sense of pride after washing it! The joy of course lasts only for about 3 hours IF that... after that I start messing it up.

This afternoon Maelie had a birthday party to attend. Sebastien is one of the little boys in her class that she really likes. Apparently, he likes her back. He was the one who wanted to buy Maelie a ring for her birthday. His mom told him he had to wait at least til he was 18! Maelie insisted on wearing a dress to look all nice for him. Next thing I know, she packed her purse with make-up and she was fixing herself up in the car!




Maelie insisted on being close to Sebastien during present time and cake time! I think she was almost actually falling asleep on him at one point! Here she is with Sebastien.



Here is a picture of both her boyfriends! She loves playing with Sebastien... but Mathieu is also her current boyfriend. For some reason she orefers playing with the boys than the girls (most days!) They are such cuties!





It's actually fun to get together with the school kids outside of school. Parties are always so much fun!



Now back to our regular weekend... more cleaning!

Please remain off the roads

My little Maelie is taking a school bus for the first time this afternoon to go on an outing with the school daycare.

May I kindly ask EVERYONE to refrain from driving in the National Capital area please? I would feel much safer all day!!

thanks,

from the-overly-protective-worried-anxiety-prone Mom