Little boys

I am a mom of little boys.

When I was pregnant with the twins, I was convinced they were a boy and a girl.  We didn't find out ahead of time what their gender was.  From what we could tell from the outside, they seemed so different - heart rates, movements, size and shape.  We even tried the old wives' tales, which was tricky with twins, but I swear with the ring test, one side of my belly responded differently than the other side!  So we just planned for one of each.  Turns out, we were wrong.  And now I am a mom of two boys.

I have to say that I am thrilled to have boys.  For as long as I can remember, I have LOVED little boys.  From the time I was little, my first neighbourhood friends were little boys and I remember collecting ants and playing in the dirt with them.  When I was in youth group and helped with the little kids groups, I always had a soft spot in my heart for little boys. There is just this wild, sweet, rough exploring side of boys that I have always loved.

Now I get to live with boyhood all around me.  It's not exactly what I expected.  It's not just muddy and aggressive and all about cars (though it was when they were little).  It's fast moving, and messy,  and competitive, and full of sound effects, and many sweet moments of snuggles and kisses.

Take the other day for example: We had a no agenda, no plans day at home.  By 7:30am they were convinced we HAD to make rockets.  We gathered supplies, built cardboard rockets and they were painting them.  While they dried I went out to work in the garden and they collected bugs and jumped on the trampoline.  We stopped for a snack/coffee break and watched the Snowbirds fly overhead.  They wouldn't sit to color but we spent a few minutes (max) using chalkboard paint outside.  Lunch, quiet time (which also only lasted a short time) and then it was time to head to the park.  They rode their bikes there, threw frisbees, played ball, rode bikes home, and stopped to climb on rocks.  At home I tried to get them to stay still for a few moments and lie in bed for a cuddle, and they crawled all over and made funny noises. I made dinner while they ran around with cars and blasted me with shooters from their airplanes.  They ate quickly, wiggling around the whole time, splashed in the bathtub making a mess all over, squealed and run around in their PJs, and finally tucked into bed for snuggles and lullabies.

No wonder when the day is done, I am wiped.  Emotionally, physically, mentally drained!  But when those little voices at the end of the day, whisper sweet nothings like, "I'll meet you in my dreams" and "When I grow up mom, can I marry you?  I love you so much" my heart melts and I am filled anew to take it all on for another day.  They are busy. They are loud.  They are messy.  They are sweet.  They are caring.  They are funny.  They are full of life.  Little boys.

Saturday musings

Today my thoughts are whimsically floating this way and that, and I can't figure out what to sit down and write about.

It is the end of the day.  I am sitting with a glass of wine, a sweet potato Paleo brownie, and a pile of folded laundry surrounding me.  Today was a "deal-with-it" day.  The house needed to be cleaned, the laundry needed to be washed, the fridge needed to be stocked, and the day was mostly rain-free, which meant we had to take the opportunity to work in the yard before it rains again.  It was a FULL day.  I am wiped.  I am content.

Right now the Canadian Forces Snowbirds and CF-18 are doing Spring training here in Comox.  Twice a day we get to watch our own air show as they fly overhead and practice formations.  The CF-18 is loud!  When it passes right over us, our house shakes and is filled with the noise.  I remember when the kids were babies we had to adjust their naptime since the fly-bys would wake them up.  Now it is such a treat for the boys to see!  Last night I dreamt all night about the CF-18.  You know you are a mom of boys when...  lol.

In the next few months we will be saying goodbye to a close friend of ours who has been staying with us for the past little while.  He's moving on to bigger and better things.  It has had me thinking, though, of all the people who have passed through the humble doors of our abode.  When we bought our home, Comox was in a housing boom.  The market was flooded!  We came one weekend and looked at 20 houses at least, all in our price range in this area.  There was just 2 of us and a dog back then, so we hadn't planned to buy such a large house, but with the prices, we couldn't resist.  We ended up with a good ol' BC box (as they say) with 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.  The layout was just right that we have all we need upstairs and the downstairs could be separated out for room and board.

So, just a few weeks after we moved in, we started hosting International students.  Now the stories I have about that can go on and on... but suffice it to say, our house has been well lived in!  We have had around 20 students come and go through our doors, and have been able to host friends and family needing a place to stay for a while.  I do enjoy my privacy and space, so I have to admit this has been challenging at times, but it also has filled our lives with such richness.  We've learned about ourselves, and expanded our horizons through the lives of others.  The friends who have stayed with us really have become family.   It's been nearly 8 years in this house and I can say with certainty that it has been a HOME.  There is nothing sweeter than home.

Spring Break

Unlike the rest of Canada, we in BC have hit spring.  The daffodils have appeared, the magnolia tree has bloomed, cherry blossom scent fills the air, and the rain is falling, falling, falling.  As much as I am tired of the grey, I think that by April, I'm happier to have rain and green grass and flowers, than snow like rest of the country.  This has been a long winter for Canada.

We just had a wonderful, busy, full Easter and spring holiday.  Our Easter is always full of lots of church services and gathering with friends and family.  After we finished our last service on Sunday, we took off down island to visit with some extended family in Victoria.  It was lovely!  We ate lots of food, visited the famous petting zoo (which I still remember from my childhood),  saw a castle, and just sat around sharing family stories.  After that just our family took off to the west coast of Vancouver Island to tuck away at a little Air BnB for a couple of nights.  It was all quite rainy, but we ventured out to the beaches, watched movies, and cuddled up in bed with books (while the kids watched Disney channels we don't get at home).

What I hadn't counted on is what it would be like to be around my kids for 24/7 for two weeks straight!  I am used to the breaks of work, preschool, and having my parents around to offload them for a while.  That was all absent for the past two weeks and by the end of the two weeks, we were ALL ready for a break from one another lol.  Today I am extra savouring my precious time alone.

In other news, we finally, finally are almost ready to start planting things in our garden.  I found time to put up a fence so the dog (and neighbour's cat) stay out of the garden while the seeds are getting established. I need to plant grass in one corner, and I need to relay the bark chips around the garden.  Then we can plant!  I am so excited.  This year especially I am finding peace and solitude in working out in the yard.  It is my happy place. 

I also have an idea, which I can't believe I haven't thought of until now!  I am going to start to put together a travel journal, writing and sharing about all the places in the world I have visited.  I am not a huge world traveler, but when I sit down to think about it, I have actually made it to see a lot of interesting places.  I would love a chance to share and write about my experiences.  Anyone have any tips/ideas on a good format/way to start a travel journal??? 

So there's our "spring" break in a nutshell.  Now we're halfway into April... let's bring on the SUNSHINE please!!!