My Favourite day of the year :)

It was only two short months ago that I said I was so happy to be packing the last school lunch of the year...well, now I am so happy that I got to pack the first school lunch of the year today!!!  Yes, it is that time of year again, the time when the leaves start changing colour, the days are getting a little cooler, the time when you have to put a sweater on to go outside, the time when I no longer have whiny children all day long (well, except those who are still too young to go to school yet)...yes, it's back to school!!

Mark is off to grade 2 - Mrs. McCullough is his teacher and he has never been so happy!  Grace is in grade 1- Ms. Birch is her teacher and she too is soooooo very happy about this!  I watched them get on the bus this morning, camera in hand and not a tear in my eye this year!  I sometimes feel a little bit bad with the fact that I don't have any sadness about them going off to school, but then I remember why - they drove me CRAZY all summer long!!  I love my kids, don't get me wrong, however two months of them being together 24 hours a day is enough! 

This was the first year since 1998 that I didn't have to send Natalie off to school - she is going to work today instead.  It felt a little odd not taking a picture of her this morning, but I am sure she was thrilled with this fact!

Next week I will take Will to playschool for the first time - I get teared up just thinking about this one...that will be a hard day for me. 

I can't wait until after school when the big yellow bus pulls up and the kids bring me all the notes and permission slips that come with the first day of school.  I love this day!!

SJ

Mark - first day of Grade 2

Grace - first day of Grade 1

Off to school they go!

The Power of Song (or Love if it's by Celine)!

I got up at about 2:30 in the morning and can't seem to sleep (probably because half of my children are now sleeping in my room!) and I have a song stuck in my head!  I was trying my best to fall asleep, but this song just keeps playing over and over and over...

My friends called today, down from L.A.
They were shootin' pool all night and sleepin' half the day
They said I could crash if I could find my own way
I told them you were leaving on a bus to go away

That's alright, that's OK
We were two kids in love tryin' to find our way
That's alright, that's OK
Held our dreams in our hands, let our minds run away
That's alright, that's OK
We were walkin' through some youth, smilin' through some pain
That's alright, let's turn the page
   
And remember what I say, and it goes this way

Girl, don't go away mad  Girl, just go away!

...if you do not happen to know that song (and not know the tune, therefore probably not getting it stuck in your head for three hours), it is "Don't go away mad" by Motley Crue.

As I was was lying in my bed (which by the way, I had to Google "lying" vs. "laying" which could become an entire blog post in itself...who knew!) with this song in my head I got thinking about the power of songs (and the "Power of Love" by Celine) and couldn't help but reminisce a little!  I am sure you must have those songs in your life that take you back to an exact moment in life.  It is amazing how a song can transport you back in time - and how you can seem to remember every lyric of the song!  Here are a few of my memory songs:

• "I don't want to miss a thing" Aerosmith - My wedding day (it was our first dance song).
• "Brown Eyed Girl" Van Morrison - High School dance with Kurt Richter
• "My Sharona" The Knack - Driving around in Jody Dickou's car with Rayna B.
• "Man in Motion" Warren Haynes - Rick Hanson coming through Wetaskiwin (not my uncle, but the guy in the wheelchair)
• "Push it" Salt-N-Pepa - an airband put on by some girls in my grade 5 class (even in grade 5 we knew this song was not appropriate for grade 5!!)
• "Seduce Me Tonight" Cycle V (Flashdance soundtrack) - my Mother!!  She made this mixed tape for my sister, Amy, when I was about 6 or 7 years old and this was my favourite song on it!  I remember her telling me not to sing it out in public...but what did I know, I was only 6 or 7!
• "Neutron Dance" - my sisters and our brown living room curtains in the house on Park Drive in Vermilion!!

Okay, memory lane can go on forever, but hopefully I will be nice a cozy (and sound asleep) in my bed soon, so we will exit the lane right now!

I am the kind of person who listens to all of the lyrics in a song, and if I can't figure them out, I google them!  I drives me nuts not to know them - how else am I supposed to sing my heart out if I don't know the words??  Greg is the kind of person though who doesn't listen to the lyrics, just the music (not sure how that's possible) but every once in a while he will say to me: "have you heard the words to that song?"...ya, of course I have! 

My kids love some songs that might not be the best for kids to love, such as "Baby Got Back" by Sir Mix-a-Lot...but then again, "Seduce Me Tonight" may not have been the best for kids and I turned out just fine!!

Well, I am going to hit the hay, trying not to step on or roll over any of my naughty-song-loving-kids as I try to get some sleep!

Good Night

Now it's time to say good night
Good night Sleep tight
Now the sun turns out his light
Good night Sleep tight
Dream sweet dreams for me
Dream sweet dreams for you.

Close your eyes and I'll close mine
Good night Sleep tight
Now the moon begins to shine
Good night Sleep tight
Dream sweet dreams for me
Dream sweet dreams for you.

Close your eyes and I'll close mine
Good night Sleep tight
Now the sun turns out his light
Good night Sleep tight
Dream sweet dreams for me
Dream sweet dreams for you.

Good night Good night Everybody
Everybody everywhere
Good night.

(The Beatles)


SJ

I was floored!

I just had one of those profound moments in life: a "light bulb moment" or an
"uh-huh moment" as our iconic talk show hosts might refer to them. 

Here is what happened...a grandma of one of my day home kids came to pick up her little granddaugther today.  She also happens to be related to me, so in some ways I felt even more embarrased by the state of my house and the fact that her granddaughter was so dirty from playing outside all day.  I gave her the little girls shoes in the living room, near my front door, and she said she would make sure the little girl did not walk on my floors, as to not spread the dirt around.  I looked at her and said "look at my floors, they are awful already...I can't stand them" (I then went on to say that I regret getting laminate floors and wished for real hardwood).  Her response surprised me a little, as I wasn't expecting someone to be so very understanding about the reasons behind my dirty floors and to have such good reasons for why I should be happy with what I have. 

She said this: "Sara, you don't want hardwood right now, not with little kids.  Wait until your kids are grown up and you have more money to spend.  (this next part is what I found so profound) You are so lucky to have this beautiful house with so much room and a big yard, you even have air conditioning.  I lived in a trailer for 25 years and not once did my kids ever complain about it and say they wanted a house to live in.  They don't think about it that way, they don't care what their house, or their floors look like. Your kids will not ever complain aobut the house they lived in as kids, even when they are eighty, they will never say they wanted more as kids."

The thing that made this conversation so much more than it was is that I was just told this past weekend that this woman has MS and is, at times, in so much pain she can't even function.  I am not sure how bad her MS is or what the future will hold for her, but I could see in her eyes that she takes nothing for granted in life.  I realized that I take far too much in my life for granted: healthy children, a loving husband, a beautiful house, food on my fridge every day, etc. 

For now on I will look at my dirty laminate floors in a totally different way.  When I look at them I will no longer see them only as a cheaper version of the floors that I really wanted, but they are the place that my children play, the place that my family sits, the place where my job gives me so much joy each day...they are not just floors, they are the foundation of my childrens life...even if they are filthy!

SJ