Everyone loves their children. Some people love their children because it’s their duty to. Other people just love spending every minute with their children and can’t get enough of the joy that they receive from their children. I know of people who go on vacation and every time they go they leave their children with the grandparents so that they can have a break. I know of people who go on vacation and put their infants into strange daycare so that they can have a break. I am not saying that parents should not have a break. But ever since my kids were infants, it has been my pleasure to go on vacation as family time. Ever since my children were infants and right through the years, hubby and I have loved to watch them playing in the sand, swimming with them eating out with them and relaxing with them. The best of vacations is having quality family time and lapping up the pleasure of seeing my children have the best time. I love every moment of being with them. They light up my life.

For those of you who work full time and are also a mom, the balancing act can be quite a challenge. Personally, I find it very challenging. At the end of the working day, I am exhausted and of course my children need my attention. They are both school age. They are very independent but do need my undivided attention when it comes to helping with school homework, which I believe is very important that they do get my full attention at that point.

The difficult part is, when trying to organize dinner, do some laundry and other household chores that need to be caught up, I really feel I need to try my best to stay calm and patient for my own children who really need me at those hours. They are my life and soul. I do try though at the end of the day when I get in to bed and read and try doing something relaxing and giving myself some wind down time. The balancing act is not easy. If you have any good tips for the balancing act, please feel free to share them…

Today is yet another PD day for the school year.  This year is insane. There is a PD day at least once a month. I know that the kids love it but seriously the school year is short and I think that they loose a lot of learning time with all the PD days. So, I decided to use the opportunity to book the kids dental appointments. Okay not the best mom thing to do on a PD day, I know I know I should be taking them out somewhere fun. However I’d rather get these kinds of chores done on a PD day and then we can still enjoy our weekend as a family when hubby is around too. However a major snow storm arrived with freezing rain and so I had to re schedule the dentist appointments. So we haven’t been able to do anything to do, no chores or not even anything fun but spend the day being house bound. I thought it would be a drag, but the kids are having a whale of a time doing their own thing at home for a change.The joys of living in a cold climate but i must say it worked out for the best in the end.

Both my mom and mom in law live far from us. Fortunately they are able to visit their grandchildren when they can. With the digital world to day, we are able to keep their relationship alive. Thanks to email, skype and inexpensive phone calls, they are able to still connect with their grandmas all the time.

 Unfortunately my dad passed away tragically when I was 11 years old. Not only would I have done anything to have him in my life as I grew up, but also in my children’s life. They ask to see photo’s of him all the time and love hearing stories about him. He was such a warm and loving person.

He would have absolutely loved to have been a part of their life. I treasure the memories of him and always tell them how proud he would’ve been of them.

Sometimes I wish I could catch time while it is flying and hold it still.

Princess T is now 6 yrs old in grade one. She really is becoming so independent now. Her big brother Y is 9 and half years old and will be turning 10 in April. He is in grade four. For those whose kids are already teens don’t think that I am crazy when I say it kind of scares me that he will be out of the single digit numbers. Of course he is very independent. He can do everything for himself now. He goes out to his friends houses on a street alone and walks home his little sister from school daily. I’ve never really felt age that much until this year. I guess that as the children grow one really begins to question things about their life. 

I keep wondering about things like… maybe it’s time for a career change now that the kids are getting older. Then when I think about the practical side of things they really are young enough to still need me around. 

Well I just wondered if any other mom feels time as their children grow older like I have been.

Princess T is 6 years old. She receives a token for allowance each month as I feel that she is way too young to receive too much at this stage. On Saturday we were in the mall and she really wanted a “build a bear”. Hubby and I said no, its way too expensive. We then went into the store and found  out that the cheapest bear is $12.00. We told her that if she wants one she can buy it with her own money. So she came home and counted out all her quarters until she made up $12.00. The next day we took her back to the store and she brought along her quarters in a little bag. She chose a bear worth $12.00 and named him cuddly, she did not have enough money to buy him clothes but went up to the counter with her little bag of quarters and paid and bought it all by herself. We are so proud of her.

It’s not easy for both adults and kids to deal with disappointment. Yesterday my son was very disappointed for not getting a role in a “peace play” that they are doing. I spoke to my son about how sometimes in life when things happen in a way that we don’t plan for or hope for, we have to look at the situation and think of it as “not meant to be” and that it happens for the best. At 9 and half years old he really accepted that and felt much better about everything afterwards.

So teach your children that the glass is half full and not half empty. That life has a way of working things out for the best for everyone.

I am in the process of reading this wonderful book. I am now at the second part, her trip to India. I am not sure if any of you have had the opportunity to read this book. Elizabeth Gilbert is a wonderful writer. I love the humour that she has brought into her book. I am not going to give the story away; it basically is about her travels to Italy, India and Indonesia, and her search for meaning and spirituality. It is just wonderful to read how very human she is… I am thoroughly enjoying the book and each night I look so forward to my relaxation and reading time. For me I find it one of those books that I just can’t wait to read on.

Well not to seem really ridiculous but I had no idea what a meme is. I think I may have it right now but forgive me if I don’t. I am though very excited to be part of the “meme” crowd.

So here are 7 weird facts…..

1) I have the sweetest tooth and would replace anything in life for a bar of chocolate.

2)I procrastinate way too much

3) I love to listen to good old music like ABBA

4) My hubby and I met on an old fashioned blind date

5) On the weekend nothing goes down better than a delicious cocktail

6) I have 3 children.. a son, a daughter and a handsome hunky husband… ( ha ha)

7) I love slapstick comedies

Meme rules are as follows:

1. Link to the person’s blog who tagged you.
2. Post these rules on your blog.
3. List seven random and/or weird facts about yourself
4. Tag seven random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
5. Let each person know that they have been tagged by posting a comment on their blog

I am working on the tagging and will let my fellow tagged bloggers know as soon as they are tagged.

I was totally dreading this week. Back to work and back to school. It’s back to checking on homework and making school lunches each night as well as a full day of work and total exhaustion at night. I am not trying to sound morbid but vacation time is so stress free. I must say though that princess T and brother Y have settled back to school so nicely and are actually enjoying being back in some kind of routine.

Mommy took a little longer but I too am enjoying getting back into routine it’s really not so bad.