Book reading this weekend in Coburg

This Sunday, November 15th - at the Avid Reader in Downtown Coburg. I
will be reading my books, we'll build some GINORMOUS snowmen (inside),
and get into the winter season with the kids. Bring your friends and
family.

Also, on December 12 at 1:30pm at Baby, Bump and Beyond in downtown
Napanee, I will be doing the same...

More dates and details to come. I really hope to see you there.

Happy Halloween

Well, we did it - here is the white-wall tire costume requested of us
by our son. He is an original for sure, and we pulled it together, at
about 1230am on friday evening. Hope everyone had a safe and happy
halloween. We had lovely visits with our neighbours, a gorgeous moon
and sadly only 3 kids to our house.

Why I love my Son's Kindergarten

For this, and so many other things - I am grateful to have an on-site kindergarten that is so nurturing, inclusive and aware for my son. It is a combination of great teaching, love and attention to each child that makes it such a special place. This also explains my sons need to collect milkweed pods everywhere we go these days. We now have a jar of seeds and a jar of fluff on our shelves. And a field-full of milkweed at the base of our property. Thank you Loyalist CECE for making school so special for us. These past weeks, mo has built a crane to rescue something in a sewer with his teacher, he has learned to spell orange, he has learned songs and dances, he has learned the science of magnets - and so much more.

Proud of my dad...

Yesterday my father was inducted into the Lindsay Sports Hall of Fame,
as an athlete and as a coach. When you grow up with a pro-football player as a dad, you take some things for granted. When you grow up with people like our parents - you've got it made. We were driven to every practice for every sport - we were coached and chaperoned and we were supported in whatever we chose to do.

The thing about this induction was - I realized that other people see our dad as a mentor - and the number of people he has inspired, coached and worked with is pretty unbelievable. Not to mention - he is a great speaker. We have listened to his stories over and over again - have you ever seen the movie BIG FISH? Well that guy reminded me of my dad in a big way. So, realizing that he is a character and much of the stories he tells are rooted in truth somewhere was enlightening.

Usually you have to wait for terrible things to happen to get to hear how wonderful your folks are and meet the people in their lives from BEFORE they were your parents. We got to see that, and so did dad - and it was awesome.

Nostalgia

Listening to CBC live this afternoon to the beautiful voice of Steven Page - who always makes me nostalgic for warm summer nights, and sitting around the campfire with friends and co-workers - listening to my friend Luke play the guitar. You know, you never think you will get older, that you will always be young and adventurous, and then all of a sudden you realize you've become all of those things you were so sure you never would - or COULD be - does that make sense?
We get older, we have kids, then we spend most of our time being amazed at watching them grow - and time passes. Next thing you know your 4-year old is examining your hair telling you to pull out all those white-silver ones. I am not complaining, I love my life - and know I am so blessed. I am just musing on these facts...
I started teaching this year - which I love immensely. I am learning so much, and don't think I am particularly great at it yet, but I think I might be eventually. I feel energized in a way I haven't in a long time. It is the promise, the excitement of the students as they prepare to tackle the world, bringing justice and social change. They are not jaded, or too busy being grown up to care. It is a very refreshing thing to witness and be a part of. There is still a part of me that is 5, and 12 and 17 and even 23, and I am sure as I age parts will stick with me along the way of all the pivotal moments in my life. They say you can condense your life into 5 pivotal moments - I have to think on that.

What I have been up to....

Besides growing a baby, starting to teach, renovating a crappy old house and evicting random squirrels, skunks and raccoons from the property... I have also been working. I am almost completely finished the book set in Gambia, will post more of this later. Here are a series of characters based on Inuit mythology for Inhabit Media. These are ©2009 Inhabit Media.





Talking about birth with a 4 year old

Besides the fact that our son is wishing I will have a car instead of a baby, he has been very curious about the whole process. He was born by emergency c-section and I've had to explain this to him. There was a lot of medical intervention and it was a scary experience. In the end we ended up with a beautiful, healthy little boy. I've been talking to him about his sibling, who is due in February 2010. We are 20 weeks now. This time we have a midwife, I feel more empowered and I know nothing really goes according to plan when it comes to this stuff, but we are aiming for a natural birth this time with as little intervention as possible.

Tonight, my little boy and I are were having our nightly snuggle, quietly, in the dark and he says,
"Mommy, I don't want them to cut you this time." I was floored for a second. I assured him that it did not hurt me, and that we were all good and it was ok. He said again, "I think it would be better if the baby was born the other way this time - will it hurt you?" and he nestled in. I told him that, yes, it would hurt me a little, and I would have to work pretty hard - but only for a little while - and then we would have our baby. We snuggled for a bit, he, lying on my belly, listening and his sibling giving him little love taps. It is a moment that will be emblazoned in my memory forever.

So I ask - where does a 4 year old gain this insight and feeling?

Books we've been reading - It's not the Stork and Being Born - two great books that beautifully illustrate the thigs you need to talk about, in a gentle and informative way.

We have our ultrasound on Tuesday - and I can't wait for our son to see the baby this way too. These are special times.