OK, so I didn’t write anything for Justin’s fourth birthday last week. (I did post pictures from his party, so I’m not a truly terrible mother.) I was a little nervous about trying to entertain six kids ranging from 15 months to six years old, but it all worked out pretty well. I did a Sesame Street theme (naturally) so I made a ball toss game using Elmo’s picture and a pin-the-nose-on-Elmo game, both of which Justin absolutely loved — to the point where he continued to play pin-the-nose even after his guests had gone home. I think everyone had a good time.

Mother Nature seems to be seriously disturbed these days. I was convinced that spring was here to stay, but we’re still getting a bit of snow every few days, and it’s pissing me off. I’ve never seen a winter this long, this cold or this snowy in the entire 10 years I’ve been in Kelowna (and yes, I know it’s a lot better here than in most of the rest of the country, but c’mon!) And yet I saw a bit in the news the other day about how the lower-than-normal snow pack is going to mean trouble for our water supply. I just don’t get it.

Spring break has begun, which simply means the activities we normally do are shut down for two weeks. Yay. That wouldn’t be such a problem if the weather would cooperate, but we’ll see how things go. Ho hum…

It took us a while to acknowledge it, but Brayden really is growing up. Over the past few weeks he’s given up the playpen, and the crib, and his little bouncy chair, and the booster seat at the table…which means there’s almost no way to contain him anymore, so things are interesting. He’s a lot more mischievous than Justin ever was (Brayden’s favorite thing to do these days is run off giggling in the exact opposite direction I want him to go) and it frustrates me to no end, but c’est la vie.

He babbles all the time now (sounds like a constant stream of “duckaduckaducka”) but still no real words, so it’s easy to forget how much he actually understands. He knows most of his letters and numbers — no surprise, really, given that Justin is obsessed with both. He’s also capable of responding to simple commands, but the real issue is whether he chooses to comply. Sigh. And he’s not even two yet…

This is a good day: Brayden actually slept all night (hasn’t happened in weeks, so we’re thrilled), the sun is out and the kids went to Grandma’s this morning. Thank God for Mondays. Actually, the whole weekend was pretty good. Chris and I went to a movie Friday night and the kids were in bed by the time we got home, so that was awesome — Brayden has been kind of tough to put to bed lately, so we were impressed that Uncle Greg got him down in minimal time. Saturday night was free family night at the rec centre, so we took the kids to the toddler play area to let them run around. It was total pandemonium in there, with a room full of toddlers riding bikes and climbing slides and parents everywhere trying to keep their kids from killing themselves or each other, but the boys seemed to have fun.

Justin’s birthday is only a few weeks away (he’s going to be four years old — that just blows my mind) but the snow refuses to disappear entirely, so I guess it’ll have to be an indoor party. Last year the snow was gone and we were out enjoying the yard by the end of February (I think, although I could be wrong) but that doesn’t appear to be in the cards.

I haven’t talked to my mom in over 10 days due to the fact that my parents are in the midst of a two-week cruise in the Caribbean. I normally talk to Mom almost every day, so I’m going into withdrawal. I’m not into tropical trips, so it’s not like I wish I could be there, but I do envy the fact that she got away on a holiday. Chris and I have plans to go to Orlando, but not until October, and only for a long weekend. Sigh.

A couple friends sent me lists of odd facts about themselves on Facebook, so I finally decided to give it a try. Here it is:

1. I sometimes find it odd that I’m way more of a sports fan than my husband.

2. I’ve kept a personal diary for 20 years now that neither my husband nor my children will ever read. I do, however, plan to will it to my future descendants.

3. I hate tropical vacations. I would rather visit cities with historical sites and museums.

4. I don’t like to admit it, but my best friend is my mother.

5. I have a journalism degree, but I never read a newspaper and only occasionally check the news online. Perhaps this explains why I found it so hard to get that journalism degree.

6. I like to think of myself as creative and artsy, but in reality I’m very structured, orderly and organized. If I didn’t hate math so much I’d make a good accountant.

7. I secretly wipe Cheezie residue on my socks when no one’s looking. I only recently discovered that my dad does the same thing.

8. Despite the Cheezie thing, I’m actually quite a neat freak. I’ve had to let some of that go, however, since the kids came along.

9. I hate shoe shopping and I never notice what people have on their feet. I wish it could be acceptable to wear running shoes to any event.

10. Chocolate makes me sleepy. I don’t really enjoy eating sweets at all, but I’m a sucker for a bag of chips.

11. I have a green sweater that still looks brand new despite the fact that I’ve been wearing it for 17 years. Sadly, I have photos of me wearing it in high school, and in my engagement picture, and after my children were born…

12. I’m a huge history buff, particularly when it comes to the monarchies of the world. But I HATE the TV series The Tudors.

13. It really annoys me when people treat their pets as if they’re human.

14. I love being a stay-at-home mom, but I wish it was a job with a little more prestige.

15. I’m waiting for the coffee craze to pass so more people would realize it’s way better to just drink milk.

16. The only thing I know about wine is that it comes in white and red varieties.

17. All my favorite recipes involve cheese.

18. I’ve travelled so much that I’m running out of places I still want to see. Which is fortunate, since I now have small children and can’t go anywhere.

19. I don’t really know how to use my cell phone.

20. I find it hard to believe I used to routinely stay up until midnight or later when I was in high school and college. I rarely stay awake past 10 anymore. I blame my children for this.

21. I love useless bits of trivia. Sometimes I think I’d like to be a researcher for Jeopardy.

22. I know nothing about Harry Potter.

23. I don’t quite get why people want to work from home. I need to get out of the house at least once a day. I find it hard when my husband works from home because I hate it when he’s here but not helping me with the kids.

24. I had a security blanket until I was eight years old. I actually remember waking up one morning and realizing I didn’t need it anymore, so I packed it away. I still can’t believe my mother never took it away from me.

25. I wish I could see my brothers more often.

And as for family updates…the biggest news is that Brayden is now in a toddler bed. He’s been giving us endless grief at night for the past little while, and then yesterday he actually escaped from the crib when he was supposed to be napping (and ended up with a split lip). So we took down the crib and set up the toddler bed, which he LOVES. So things are better there.

I think I’ve been remarkably restrained on this subject, but it’s time to vent: we haven’t had any sunshine in weeks (very little if any this year) and it’s really starting to get to me. Granted, it’s better now than last week, when the valley was shrouded in fog and I literally saw clouds floating past the street lights. And temperatures have been decent, although it’s supposed to snow tomorrow. But what I would give to see the sun…

Ten years ago today I moved to Kelowna. I can’t believe all the changes I’ve gone through in that time: I got my first full-time job, met Chris, bought a house, got married, had a baby, quit my job, had another baby…and here we are. I don’t think I’m fundamentally a different person now than I was back then, but marriage and motherhood have a way of rocking the world. My priorities may have changed, but I don’t think my personality has.

I guess one way to gauge the change is to look at my friends. Out of all the people I was close to 10 years ago, I still keep in touch with two regularly and a few more not so regularly. Would they say I’ve changed? Who knows.

When I arrived in Kelowna all those years ago I never thought I’d be where I am right now, but I’m happy things have worked out the way they have. Here’s to another 10 good years!

I guess you could call it a belated New Year’s resolution: last week I finally decided I need some professional help to get rid of the slight bulge around my middle that came from having Brayden. Motivation has not really been my problem, cause I do enjoy exercise — I just don’t know what kinds of things I need to do to accomplish my goal. So I’m meeting with a personal trainer on Monday. I’m pretty excited about it, so we’ll see what happens.

Justin is also making a new start these days: he just got glasses. For a long time now he’s been squinting or closing one eye when he focuses on something up close, so I finally took him to the optometrist. It turns out one eye is fine but the other is a bit farsighted. The good news is that he loves the glasses and we haven’t had any trouble getting him to wear them (maybe they actually work!) Good stuff.

Christmas managed to stay merry despite the fact that my house was once again struck by the plague. Mom and Dad showed up suffering from head colds, which they passed on to me and Dave. Then Christmas morning Brayden woke up with stomach flu, which he eventually shared with almost everyone. Fun times in the Lee household! Miraculously, Justin and Chris escaped unscathed (although Chris hasn’t actually eaten anything today…)

Seriously, though, the kids seemed to have a blast. Justin really seemed to get the idea of Christmas this year, and he was so sweet, wishing everyone a merry Christmas and telling Grandma “I’m having a wonderful Christmas — thank you!” Brayden ran around and giggled even though he occasionally stopped to puke, so even he had a pretty good day considering.

This is a holiday week. Yay. That means the library is closed, play school is closed, play groups are cancelled…in short, we’re bored. Chris is off, which helps because I don’t know how I would keep the boys entertained all by myself. On the up side, while there is still a ton of snow out there (I spent an hour this morning clearing the snow the plow dumped at the end of our driveway), at least temperatures are getting back to normal. So how long until spring?

After some unexpected challenges, the family is finally here for Christmas. My parents showed up a day early to avoid the nasty weather that was forecast for this past Sunday, but Dave got stranded in Vancouver due to that same bad weather. His flight from Whitehorse to Vancouver was fine, but then I guess he sat on his next plane on the tarmac for four hours before they finally cancelled the flight. He never did get through to Air Canada to rebook. We got him a hotel room in Vancouver for the night and he got himself a bus ticket to Kelowna the next day (he almost couldn’t get a cab to the bus station, but that’s another story). So he ended up being 26 hours late — but on the up side, it’s the first Christmas in a very long time that he arrived at the same time as his luggage.

Justin’s new obsession is the story of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, which he recites approximately 426 times a day. That show was one of my favorites growing up, but it’s wearing a little thin these days. Still, it’s better than watching endless episodes of Dora or something.

Hope you all have a safe and happy holiday! Merry Christmas!

Brayden has always hated getting his hair cut. He objects far more to a haircut than he does to a needle in his arm. Unfortunately, his hair grows so fast that it has to be trimmed every month or so. This generally involves at least three adults, plenty of ear-splitting screaming and a very large tip for the poor stylist. So this time around we took him to a special hair salon that’s specifically designed for kids: the chairs are actually cars with steering wheels, there are TVs showing cartoons next to the mirrors and there’s even a ball pit for the siblings to play in while they wait. The stylist even produced toy cars and trains for Brayden to play with and gave me the task of blowing bubbles to keep him occupied. And lo and behold, the little guy hardly made a peep. (And Justin had a blast in the ball pit.) You’d think a place like that would cost a bundle, but it was only about $2 more than our regular salon. Awesome.