Everything's coming up roses

Garden candy for all the gardeners out there!

My garden went from this in May...

to this today...

Eden Climber

Morden Ruby

Morden Blush

Twist-n-Shout Hydrangea

Canada Day

Today we went to Rotary Park (a beautiful park with a spectacular waterfront) for the annual Canada Day festivities. It was sunny and warm -- a great day!

After Rotary Park, we all went to our friends Steve and Lindsay's house for a BBQ. It was nice to get out and see everyone, nice that I could enjoy a glass (or three) of wine, nice that I didn't have to think of something to make for dinner.

Right now I'm listening to the fireworks display that is put on by a few families in our community. Lucas and Steve have gone down to see them with a few of the other families on our street.

I'm home because Bella fell asleep in the car coming home from the BBQ and is now sound asleep in bed.

I can see some of the higher fireworks over top of the rooftops in the distance.

It must have just ended as I hear everyone cheering and clapping.

Happy Canada Day!

The T Dot

We went downtown this past weekend to St. Lawrence Hall for my friend's son's Annaprashan. I was so excited and and felt very honoured to wear a sari during the event-- a sari that once belonged to my friend's mother, a mother who was like a second mom to me. Sadly, she passed away suddenly on March 8th of this year. Even though she was dearly missed, the day was very enjoyable. I love learning about culture and getting to experience it first hand -- one of the bonuses of living in a multicultural society.

After the event Steve, Lucas, Isabella, my mom and I walked around the St. Lawrence Market area -- one of my favourite areas in Toronto. I always wish I could have lived downtown for a bit before we moved out to the burbs and had kids. It really is a happening place with lots to see and do.

Some pictures from our walk...

For those of you that don't know Toronto, these two office towers are called BCE Place (you can also see the CN Tower behind the building on the left). Though not as big, many consider these buildings the Twin Towers of Toronto -- if these two buildings went down, it would definitely make a noticeable difference to the downtown skyline and put a halt to the downtown core. The lower redish brick building in the middle of the picture is the Flatiron Building (aka the Gooderham Building). Standing at that interstection with all the people bustling around you really gets you into the downtown vibe. It just makes you feel lively inside.

I am...

just realizing now that 20 years ago I was 13 and 13 years ago I was 20.

Forever moonwalking

the original record my brother and I used to listen to

(and still do thanks to my new record player)

Growing up, there weren't too many kids to play with on our street. Ok, there was like one family with three kids that I can remember. The boy was the same age as my brother and the two girls were years younger than me. So, my brother and I ended up playing a lot together -- school, house, vet, lego, making forts, playing in the field behind our house, riding our bikes -- thankfully, we got along for the most part and still do.

One of our favourite past times when we were little was listening to records. The record player was in the family room on a bookshelf, right beside the TV and below the fish tank.

We had quite a few records but one of the very first records I remember getting was Michael Jackson's Thriller. I think I was about 7 years old, my brother was 5. I would ever so carefully pull the record out of the sleeve, put the record on the player, bring the arm of the record player over slowly so not to scratch the record, finding the exact groove that matched the beginning of Beat It.

The fireplace had a surround that was elevated a few inches from the carpet and was the perfect size for a stage. Beside the fireplace there was a bucket that would sometimes hold wood. It was also the holding spot for a wooden dowel my brother and I had found, the ideal size for a microphone. We would entertain ourselves for quite a while putting on concerts, pretending we actually knew how to do the moon walk. Ahhh, the memories.

RIP
Michael Jackson
1958 ~ 2009

The thunder rolls

It was lunchtime. I could hear the rolling of thunder in the distance. The heavy, dark clouds kept inching closer and closer, sailing across the sky until they finally burst. While some areas had to contend with hail the size of golf balls, we were lucky to only be showered with millions of massive raindrops that seemed to fiercely dance through the neighbourhood.

Coffee talk

I'm sitting here drinking a nice warm cup of coffee (yes, it's warm and hasn't even been reheated yet) and a sesame seed bagel with peanut butter on it. Both of the kids are at daycare. A moment to myself...sigh.

That's the one thing we're lacking where we live -- a good bagel place. We have The Great Canadian Bagel but it's just not the same as a good fresh Montreal style bagel. Steve's parents bring us fresh bagels often from St. Urbain since it's close to their house. Mmmmm. Sometimes they're still warm when they get here. Double yummy!

I went to a movie with the girls last night. It was the first time in months that I had been out with the girls and can you believe eight of us were actually free on the same night?! We went to see The Proposal (with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds), a good movie to see with the girls. It had quite a few funny parts.

I won't ruin the movie for you but one scene had It Takes Two by Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock....a cute scene. Now I can't get the damn song out of my head! I guess it doesn't help that I know EVERY.SINGLE.WORD. to the song.

I wanna rock right now

I'm Rob Base and I came to get down

I'm not internationally known

But I'm known to rock the microphone

My Wisteria girls and I had a great time. Wisteria Girls....that's what my neighbours friends call us, our street. I always think of our street like the opening to Leave It To Beaver where everyone pulls in and out of the driveway at the same time with the theme song whistling in the background. Or the Truman Show.

We headed over to Demetre after the movie for dessert and I ordered NOTHING! Can you believe it? Nothing! The room was filled with the warm delicious smell of vanilla and I had nothing because I filled up on popcorn and diet coke.

Anyway, I better finish up my coffee. I had all these plans to clean and organize the house (eventually, Oprah ...eventually when exactly, I don't know, but if I think about it, it will come...or I keep telling myself that) and maybe mow the lawn, but Lucas announced this morning that his shoes are too small. Oh, yeah for me. I get to search for boys shoes which always seems like a chore to do in this neck of the woods. You think a family friendly community would have at least ONE kids shoe store but no. That would just be way to convenient. Wally-Mart just ain't cuttin' it these days.

One last sip and then I have to pick my ass up off this chair. I'm just feeling so tired and lazy today. I guess this is why girls nights out only happen once in a blue moon.

Protecting us from evil

I was just reading one of the blogs I follow, Girl's Gone Child. One of her recent blog entries is about how she walked by a little boy who was pretending to use a gun. As much as I wish it weren't true the thought crossed my mind that this could have been my five year old or any of his friends playing superheroes. As I kept reading, most of what she said is how I feel or how I felt at one point in time.

When Lucas was little, I tried very hard not to buy him clothes, shoes, etc. with characters on them...no, Spiderman, no Superman, no Transformers, no Batman. I didn't want to run into a morning fight over not having a clean Spiderman shirt for him to wear that day. I managed to get through three good years before Lucas realized there were superheroes somewhere out there in the form of red and blue human spiders and men with capes who had SUPER POWERS!!! I lost the battle but figured I wasn't going to sweat the small stuff. I remember my brother being into action figures too, a phase he eventually grew out of.

Now, that Lucas is five years old and has started school, it's like the superhero fad has turned up a notch. It's not just about climbing or flying around, now there are swords, guns, lasers and bombs to contend with (all pretend of course). As much as I wish I could have sheltered him from all of this, it was pretty clear when school started there was no way I would be winning this battle either. Whether it be school, TV, movies, clothes, shoes, backpacks, birthday parites, even food, it’s everywhere. There is no hiding!

Lucas was at his friend Jillian's house the other day creating things out of these tiny little beads called Perler Beads. They made fish, flowers and a bunch of different shapes. Since Lucas had so much fun, I decided to buy some of these beads for our house. We opened up the bucket of beads and Lucas got right into them.

A few minutes later, I heard him shout with glee "Look mom, I made a gun!"

My heart sank a bit. What happened to the flowers and fish he made yesterday? Lucas explained to me that he and his friends needed more power to fight off the evil villains but I still encouraged him to make the cute little monkey that came with the kit. I’m still waiting for that monkey.

Regardless of how much I try to protect him from weapons and all things evil, the outside world will always be there to show him they exist. Right now, he only knows these weapons as pretend. I don't think he actually grasps the concept of what the real ones can do. As a parent, my job is to help prepare him for reality which includes teaching him that they do exist, they are real and they really can hurt. They aren't just in the pretend world.

So, for now I’m going to not try not to worry so much and let the pretend play be because not only is it just a phase but in Luke’s eyes he’s not using his guns, swords and lasers for evil but rather protecting us all FROM evil.

In Luke's eyes he thinks he’s a hero, and in my eyes I think he’s a hero too.

Drained

I'm laying in bed right now, trying to rest my tired mind and weary body. I can barely move a muscle. My body feels like dead weight.

I hear Lucas downstairs banging something. Now I hear his little feet pounding on the ground, climbing up the stairs. The door to my room swings open.

"Momma", he says, "can I play outside?"

"Honey, It's eight o'clock. It's almost bedtime."

"I just want to go outside and play for a little bit. Can we?"

I'm tired, so tired right down to my aching bones. I can't even fathom getting out of this bed and moving my exhausted body, but I will. I will because my son needs me. I will do anything for my family regardless of how tired and weak I am.

And while he's having a meltdown on the floor as I type, my body is feeling even more drained. I'm mustering up every last bit of energy I have to console his sadness -- sad because the day is almost over, it's eight o'clock, time for little boys to go to bed, not outside time.

The sun will rise again tomorrow, my sweet child.

The wedding is off

Last Sunday we went to Adams Park for a picnic/BBQ with our friends Jake and Kelly, their kids Ella and Jack, and a few of their family members.

Ella was born a year and a half before Lucas but the minute he laid eyes on her, it was love at first sight. If you were to ask him if he had a girlfriend, with no hesitation he would clearly say Ella. That was until yesterday. We were sitting in McDonald's (our weekly meal before soccer) when Lucas made the announcement...

Lucas: I'm done with marrying Ella. I'm going to marry my sister.

Steve: You can't marry your sister. She's related to you.

Lucas: But I want to marry my sister because she's nice.

At the end of the BBQ, Ella and her cousin were playing catch together. Lucas had tagged along with Ella all day and Ella just wanted it to be the girls playing catch. Lucas got a bit upset at the fact that Ella didn't want him around.

And that was the moment they broke up.

I'll admit it, I was kind of sad when the announcement came. For five years, there has only been one girl for Lucas and now it's over. Hopefully it will be a short break-up because I was looking forward to having Ella as my daughter-in-law.