I Am So Popular

I am popular.


So, very popular.


People are always ringing my door bell, wanting to talk to me.


Others are calling me constantly. In fact, I get at least three calls a day by someone with a broken English accent asking for who I can only assume is "Meester or Meeses Tem-Templetonne."


Perhaps I would enjoy my popularity if it wasn't always in regards to getting my eaves or ducts cleaned, saving so much percentage on my phone bill or credit cards, or whether I am interested in moving and need the services of a realtor.


And the visitors who come to my door just might be more appreciated if they weren't carrying "The Watch Tower" magazine and giving me a sermon about how important families are when I have a screaming baby in my arms, a car load of groceries in the car, a dog running out the door and two boys jumping on my furniture.


Yes, I am popular. But only to solicitors.


It's to the point where I shudder to answer the phone. As soon as I say "Hello?" and hear that pause, I know what is coming.


"May I speak with Meester or Messes?"


"No. We're not interested."

"You have been selected to receive . . . "


Click.


My favourite visit though was by an energy salesman who asked as I opened the door carrying my baby on my hip,


"Hello, is your mother here?"


"No, I'm sorry she lives in Calgary. What do you need her for?"


Is it just me, or do I have an over-abundance of solicitors trying to get my business? It's quite ridiculous.

For My American Friends . . .

Actually, I stole this from Heather's blog, but I thought it was a great tool. Any of you Americans who are still on the fence for the upcoming election, or want to make sure you are voting for the candidate who will (try) to meet your needs, check it out.

www.whoshouldyouvotefor.com

I wish they had one of these for Canadians! With all our millions of parties and slightly different platforms . . . (okay, small exaggeration), it would really come in handy.

Avery, Sugar with Extra Spice

She started out sweet.

And perfect.

A mini version of Jayden.

We thought we had it made . . . and we did. She still is sweet, and usually perfect.

However, she has shown us that she has more of Jackson in her personality wise than Jayden.

She loves to find adventure. Loves to tempt danger.

Loves to play with the toilet. And loves to eat things like rocks, bark, crayons . . . but especially pastels. (I've had to throw out all of Jayden's art supplies.)

And now she has a fascination with shoes. Absolutely loves them. She will even bring them to us and ask us (in her own little language) to put them on her. She won't stop until we finally oblige.

If only I could get her to stop throwing things into the toilet! I've found magnets, toy cubes, pens, whatever she can find.

Jackson . . . There's Always a New Story

Sigh.

Chuckle.

What do I do with my sweet little tazmanian devil?

We were passing through the check out line in the grocery store the other day and the clerk looked over at him and said,

"Your boy looks like he's a sweet little guy, but I can tell that he gives you a run for your money."

"How can you tell?" I asked.

"By the twinkle in his eye."

Twinkle? I think that is more like a "spark" or a grand display of fireworks to rival Bejing's Olympic display.

He is such a sweet little guy though. I just don't have the energy or patience to keep up with him.

Fortunately, we've been able to put him into preschool and gymnastics. He loves both and is doing extremely well in both classes.

Gymnastics does wear him out while he is in the class, but it gets him all fired up to try things at home afterwards. It has kind of backfired. Instead of giving him an outlet for his cartwheels, headstands, and jumping, it has given him new ideas of what to do on my furniture!

He is "Mr. Popularity" in the preschool class, naturally. Every day he greets the class with a cheerful,

"Hi you guys! I'm here!"

Today his teacher was beaming about how well he did on his letter writing.

I'm just so tickled that she was beaming . . . and not steaming because he did something awful . . . like break something.

The other day we were traveling in our car and Brad snuck some fuzzy peaches. Jackson, who was sitting in the back called up,

"Hey, what are you eating? Is it candy?"

"No, Jackson. We only have carrots up here."

"It doesn't smell like carrots. I smell candy! I want some."

Seriously, I think this kid has some super duper smelling ability! That must be why he finds all the wrapped and hidden food in our house.

Today I took the kids to the park to take some fall photos on one of the last beautiful days. Do you think he could stay out of the mud puddles long enough for some shots? Absolutely not! His shoes were a write-off, and the back of his pants had mud all up the bum.

And yesterday, we were at the mall and I stopped to look at a lotion store. He picked up a large (expensive) bottle of body lotion and Jayden tried to take it away . . . then CRASH.

Shattered. All over the floor.

He is sweet, and cute, but usually only at 8:30pm when he is silently sleeping away.

Current favourite passtimes: stealing food from the fridge, anything that Jayden does or likes, gymanstics and preschool.

Jayden, the Sweetheart

Warning: Mother Bragging--but I just wanted to write this down for our family journal, so skip it if you are getting a little queasy.

I went to pick Jayden up from school the other day and his supply teacher greeted me at the gate.

She asked if she could keep him and take him home with her, she just loved him so much. Apparently, she was so impressed with him that she felt the need to tell me about how above average he was in every respect: scholastic ability, politeness, speaking, thinking, etc. She said that she has been a teacher for 36 years and has never seen a boy stand out as much as he does.

Of course, we already know all of this! ;) Seriously, he could sing the alphabet, say the phonics, and a word or two for each letter before he was 2. But it is nice to hear coming from a stranger who has been around kids for so long.

Currently, he is enjoying school. I am doing reading lessons with him at home (when I can find some quiet time with just the two of us) and he is doing great with that.

We attend tennis lessons together--he goes in the 5-6 year old class and I am in the adult class. It's pretty fun and the time we spend together in the car is nice too. Last week he was pretty cute. We didn't think his class started until 3:30 so he sat on the sidelines of my class, watching and practicing his "air swing." Really adorable.

His interests are still in cars and drawing cars. He is starting to get really interested in stuffed animals and taking care of them, like he would a child. (They need naps, baths, dinner, etc.)

And lately, he has been a great babysitter for Avery so I can get a few things done around the house.

He is such a sweetie and we are so lucky to have him!

Okay, you can gag now!

"Zhouzzz"

Should we be concerned?

Avery's first word was "bah" (or ball), and her second word was "Zhouzzz" (or shoes).

First of all, will Cinderella ever get enough of her shoes? And secondly, I am beginning to feel a little hurt that "mama" and "dada" aren't even on the list yet!

But in all honesty, I really don't blame her. She has always had the cutest shoes since she was born. I'll post pics of the other two sets later.

Here are her current "Zhouzzz."

Her second pair of shoes. I should have taken a picture when they were new and still had their label filled in with rhinestones on the buckle.

To Starve, or Not to Starve

What do you do when your preschooler refuses to eat anything that isn't candy-coated or out of a cereal box. (And I mean right out, without milk.)

Last night I made chicken pot pie. Jackson refused to eat it. Any of it. My current rule is that you can choose not to eat one thing on your plate at any given meal, but you need an extra helping of something else (usually a vegetable).

Jackson refused anything. And the only things on the table last night were the pie and salad.

It might not have been so bad except that he refused to eat lunch earlier that day even though HE chose hotdogs.

Instead, he went off to bed . . . until he snuck out later to steal some cookies.

What fun I had scraping them out of his mouth so he didn't get to enjoy them.

This morning he awoke to chicken pot pie and salad. Obviously, this is not what he had in mind. After hearing him scream and whine about it--even with a bribe of a chocolate chip eggo, I finally tried to force feed him. You would have thought I had put him in a torture chamber that was ripping his body apart.

When I did get something in his mouth, he began dry-heaving and threw up all over the floor.

So now we are at a stand-still.

Do I starve him all day, or give in and put something in his tummy?

I'll tell you, preschool isn't coming early enough today!

Family Albums

Nothing takes more time than putting together an album.

Especially a yearly "history" that I do each October. (I always do them in October because that is when mypublisher offers a 50% discount.)

Sometimes it seems like a bit of a waste of time. Okay, a big waste of time as I am probably the only one who cares. Certainly I would be the only one to notice if it was perfect or missed the mark, but it doesn't stop me from aggonizing over every tiny detail.

But this morning I came downstairs to find my two little boys looking through last year's album and our Europe album. They were thrilled to see photos of themselves when they were little. And when Avery was "a baby."

Jayden was amazed that we actually saw the Eiffel Tower. The whole thing too.

It was at that moment that I felt all my time and energy was worth while. It gives me extra motivation to undergo that long process.

And not a moment too soon since I am beginning work on our 2008 album.

First Day of Preschool

Somebody had their first day of school today.

It was bitter-sweet. Not because I was sad to see my little boy "grow up." He is only three after all. Still very little to me.

But, I feel somewhat guilty for sending him away. Like I should be able to take care of his needs at this young age. How can I turn my baby into someone else's care and miss out on all those wonderful moments?

Of course, my moments with him aren't always wonderful. They do make for good stories later on, but when you can no longer give your actual identity to poison control, well, you've got a handful.

Gymnastics was fun, but it wasn't enough to wear him out completely.

In the evenings I sit down to do reading lessons with Jayden and much less involved "preschool" workbook/lesson for Jackson--both simultaneously while watching Avery and keeping her from ripping either book. With very little help, Jackson would tear through each lesson. And he still wanted more.

More lessons, more worksheets, more.

This little busy-body is just too bored.

I must admit, I am relieved that it is boredom and not ADHA. But unless I can find about a million times more energy to keep up with him, Jayden, Avery, the house, and photography . . . I will have to accept the fact that preschool will be very good for him.

And after today, it seems as though it will be very good for us all.

Jackson went in without a problem. In fact, three of the ladies who work there had to physically help him turn to us and say "good bye." When I picked him up they said that it was as if he had been there forever. He had no problems.

Jackson came home with his art projects and worksheets, beaming with pride and told us snippets of what he had done. (The rest was apparently "classified" information that we couldn't hear about.)

And I must admit, it was nice to have a bit of peace and quiet in the afternoon, spending time with Jayden and getting things done. When the boys did reunite, they played together famously and didn't fight at all.

When bedtime came, I heard Jackson mumbling, "I big boy. I go to preschool. No Jayden, it's my preschool. I'm big. . . . " as he drifted off to sleep.

It was fabulous.

But a little sad too because, in spite of what I tell myself, I think he grew up just a little.

When A Mom Gets Tired of Headstands on Couches . . .

. . . she signs her able-bodied preschooler up for gymnastics.

I had to do something. He was driving me nuts.

(Sorry for the poor photos. The gym was dark, he was far away, I didn't have a flash, was using a point and shoot and had Avery wiggling in my arms while I was trying to shoot a moving target.)

Boys are notoriously busy. They don't walk like girls would. They bounce, leap, climb, and swing instead.

But this little boy was a few steps above that even.

He was doing cartwheels, headstands, and front rolls both on and off of the couch. He was jumping off half walls, trying out new twists and turns in the air.

I knew I had to get him busily involved in something outside of the house.

Something that would suck his energy up and leave an almost-limp boy in its wake.

Judo, I thought, might promote more martial arts fighting between the boys. Swimming was a big NO when I thought of cold temperatures, soggy boys who both needed help changing in a gross change room while I juggled Avery in my arms. All for a measely 30 minutes. Absolutely not.

So, gymnastics it was.

The program seems great. There is only one other child in his class so he gets semi-private lessons . . . and even more time to be running and exerting energy for that full hour.

I knew he was in the right place when they did suicides for a warm up.

Ahhhh. I had some marvellous visions of Jackson sprawled out, unconcious on the couch for an afternoon nap. I could get things done without wondering if I needed to worry about laundry detergent being used to wash his stuffed animals in bed. I didn't need to worry about calling poison control. (By the way, am I the only one who has a 24 hour hotline for poison control in their personal--friends and family--phone directory??) An afternoon of not breaking up fights between the boys.

My dream looked even more like a reality when I watched him going through his rotations with less and less energy. His little legs went up lower and lower in the air on every headstand.

By the time he got to the tramp circuit he could only do 3 runs of jumps, seated landings, and "gymnast crawls" before he just gave up and started walking it. Not even the thrill of jumping could entice him to move his body to jump anymore.

(Of course, he somehow found more energy for the afternoon and forewent the nap.)

But he did absolutely LOVE gymnastics. And I am glad that he has something fun to do. Something all to himself, that Jayden doesn't do.

And maybe (I mean, hopefully) the program will get so energy intensive that my dreams will come true too.

Cover Shot

Guess who's photography will be featured on the cover of a magazine??

Yup!

Okay, so it is only a magazine for a private school. But still . . . it will be sent out to 2000 of the most influential, wealthy families in the area!

The wedding that I recently shot was held at this private school. I have done a lot of shooting for this school, so I already have work being published in it. But then they called me to send in a few shots so they could do a double page spread of the wedding.

I sent them to my "Sneak Peaks" to get an idea of which types of shots they wanted and they really liked what they saw. So, they asked for more and told me that they will be using one for the featured cover shot!!

Unfortunately, it will come out in November, just missing holiday portrait season. But I guess exposure is exposure and maybe some of the alumni will be planning weddings for next summer?

I Can Fly, I Can Fly, I Can Fly

Our two boys have been taking a keen interest in practicing their "flying." Not that they ever walked anywhere. Or sat still. They always seemed to be climbing, jumping, leaping or running to get anywhere.

But now they fly.

The other day I caught Jayden in the backyard climbing up the fence with a plastic shopping bag secured over each arm, like a parachute. He was practicing to fly.

I catch Jackson almost hourly standing on our half wall in the living room, swan diving onto the couch. Again, practicing his flying skills.

Nightly, I argue with them to just go to sleep, but instead they stare out their window, trying to stay up all night for just a glimpse.

A glimpse of what??

Peter Pan, of course!

Brad found the old classic movie and oddly enough they have been watching it over and over and over. (Usually those old classics just don't cut it for them and they are out of there in under 10 minutes.)

But I think it needs to stop.

First of all, I can foresee several broken bones coming their way before they realize that they absolutely need their special fairy dust to fly.

And, the plain fact that when they aren't Peter Pan or Lost Boys wanabes, they are pirates. Pirates who are up to no good.

Pirates who not only make Mr. Polar Bear and Big Dog walk the plank . . . but also subject innocent bystanders like Guillermo and Avery to do the same.

Poor things! (Guillermo and Avery, that is.)

So, while I am grateful that an old classic has finally held my boys' attention, and that they could be stirred to such extensive imaginative play, I am afraid Peter Pan will have to be laid to rest in our home.

At least until Avery can fend for herself and we move into one of those air-filled, bouncey houses.

And He Looked Up At Me and Said,

"Mom, I need a napkin."



Slightly an understatement in my opinion. A huge understatement.


Never mind that he already had a napkin . . . and it was virtually spotless.

Obsessions

Yes, our family knows about obsessions.

Take Brad, for instance. As soon as he hears the word "tennis", he is completely out of commission for anything that doesn't require a racquet and ball. Don't even think of having a conversation for about three hours after he has heard that word.

My brother jokes about my fettish for Pottery Barn anythings. He quips: "If it isn't Pottery Barn, it's not for Mel."

That's quite a strong accusation.

But shamefully, it appears true.

Our kids are no different when it comes to obsessions.

Jayden is obsessed with cars and art. And drawing cars. He has had it since he was two and it doesn't look like it is going away.

Jackson is obsessed with food. Okay, junk food--candy, chips, anything sugar or unhealthy. And he can sniff it out of the best hiding places like a police dog. Seriously, you can't hide anything sugary from him.

So, now an obsession has appeared with Avery.

Along with a new word.

Her first word.

"Bahh!!"

(I think Brad is secretly relieved that it isn't Pottery Barn or credit card.)

Anything round needs to be in her hand. Guillermo is no match for Avery's demands either.

In fact, she has a special ball that she must hold at all times. Even while eating, crawling, sleeping, and while holding or trying to obtain another ball.

Obsessed? Perhaps we are. I prefer to think of it as "passionate" though.

First Day of School

Last week Jayden had his first day of senior kindergarten.

He was excited. At first he told me he wouldn't miss me at all. He must have sensed my disappointment so he added, "Okay, I think I might miss you a little bit."

On the morning walk to school, he told Jackson that he could come too, if he would follow all the rules like putting your indoor shoes on and hanging your bag on the hook.

The poor little guy was just so excited to go with his big brother.

When we arrived, Jackson walked right up to the gate with Jayden. He would have made it in if I hadn't grabbed him at the last second.

"I want to go to school with Jayden!"

"I know you do, but you can't. You're not allowed in there."

"But I'm big enough!"

"You might be, but you're not old enough yet."

I dragged him away, kicking and screaming. I could see that trying to use logic with him wasn't going to get me anywhere but a nuclear meltdown. So, I used the "distraction" technique.

"Why don't we go home, I'll pop some popcorn and we can watch "Peter Pan"?"

A quick moment of thought.

"Okay."

Whew! That was close.