she will be the death of me

Middle child is going to do me in. Seriously.

Went to a birthday party at the pool today. All three kids, along with the hubby. We swam and splashed and had fun. Then, the hubby decided to take the boy out to the deeper water for a bit to swim out there. All good. Until middle child got out of the toddler section of the pool. She walked around the deck and *jumped in the other part of the pool*. You know, where it's a meter deep? And she's only a couple of inches taller than a meter. (yes, I'm aware that I'm switching between metric and imperial measurement here) It all happened in slow motion, I had to run through the water, leaving the little one behind, to get DH to pull that girl out of the water. She has no fear, and that's both fun and scary.

The hubby said to me today "you know, we will never have to be telling that child that just because all her friends are bungee jumping doesn't mean she has to. Odds are, she will be the first one off the cliff". It's true.

It was great to see some other moms (and kids too!) I haven't seen in a while. Fun party, once my heart started beating again.

Spring

Spring hovers in the air, inching it's way forward each day. Step by step. Every morning a touch warmer, every day the snow retreating backwards, exposing the muddy earth beneath. There is optimism in Spring, hints at new life. As the ground awakens from it's 6 months of snowy cover, there are new smells in the air. Fresh sounds on the streets. The snowmobiles go into storage, and the motorcycles come out to play. Evenings stretch out longer, mornings begin earlier. The sun rise moves from it's mid-December 9:30 am to a much more pleasant 6:30 arrival.

Spring brings mud. In the van, in the front door, on the boots. The low spot in the yard is right under the swing set, where small children like to jump, splash and sit. Boots fill up with water and sand, splash pants become necessary, snow suits go into hiding for another year. There is optimism in the air as heavy winter gear moves to the basement. As the birds make their return Northward. As we ponder the wondrous idea that we may be seeing the last of Winter, finally.

Hallelujah!

potential problem

My kids have a current favorite author. Mo Willems. His "Pigeon" is one of the funniest characters going. They quote lines from "The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog" at the dinner table. They have turned a small stuffed bunny into their Knuffle Bunny. Trixie is a child they can empathize with. They find Reginald Von HoobieDoobie to be a sad figure, until his eventual redemption. 80% of us even have t-shirts featuring characters (can you guess which ones, and who has them?)

The thing is, Pigeon has a new book out. Released on April 1. I'd love to get my hands on it...however, there is a potential issue here.

The Pigeon Wants a Puppy.

Guess what?

So does my middle child.

Would I be able to resist? I have always maintained that there will be no dogs in this house until all the children are housebroken (preferably before the house gets broken *wink*) That day will soon be here, and I need a new reason not to get a dog. I like dogs, I just don't want one right now.

stoopit gas

Gas prices are just getting so high. Blah.

Dumb Toronto, paying less than us.

I'm now cranky with Toronto.

Like I needed another reason to dislike Toronto.

Besides, their dumb hockey team isn't even grammatically correct. The Maple Leafs. Come ON.

Why?

why are kids so loud when you want to talk on the phone?
why does my kitchen get so messy when I'm still "cleaning as I go"?
why do I wake up 20 minutes before my alarm when I really want to milk every precious minute of sleep?
why is it still snowing?

and to throw another couple of questions into the mix
when should I wash my van? it's dirty, but I don't want to wash it to get it all muddy again
what should I do with my hair? it's time for a cut, past time for a cut actually.