Maple Leaf Mommy

Me and Baby-G

G-Girl as Little Red Riding Hood

Little Red coming back home to show me her first treat of the night.

Whenever you celebrated and whatever you did, hope you had a fantastic time this weekend!

As part of my journey to capture my childhood, I recently wrote a bit about some of the Halloween costumes my mom made me over the years. With Halloween being tomorrow I thought I'd share this awesome photo my mom dug up of me and my siblings.

Here's s me as (the ill-fated) Fairy Princess, my brother as Wee Willy Winkie and my sister as Little Red Riding Hood, Halloween Eve 1986.

I'm still wishing I had a picture of that I Dream of Jeanie costume though!

When we moved to Windsor when I was five I almost immediately made friends with a little boy who lived a few doors down.  His name was Jeff.  Jeffie and I were the best of friends.  He was one year younger than I.  When I was in Grade 2, he was in Grade 1.  We played together all the time, and boy did we ever get into trouble!

One time Jeff told his mom he was going to my house. He didn't lie, the original intention was to go play in my backyard.  We then told my mom that we were going to the park. Yes, of course Jeff's mom knows he's going to the park! (Ok, maybe we lied just a little bit.)  Once we got to the park we ran into one of Jeff's friends from school... and wandered over to his house.  Come dinner time Jeff's mom couldn't find him, my mom couldn't find me, and when we finally meandered home we were both in serious hot water.


Another time we just neglected to come home after school. In retrospect I realize just how much this must have terrified my mom.  I don't remember where we ended up wandering off to, maybe the park again, I just remember we didn't head straight home.  I arrived at my house more then an hour and a half after school ended and my mom was furious.  I think these two incidents happened really close in time to one another.  I clearly remember being grounded for two weeks.

My Aunt D.'s in-laws lived on Pelee Island.  My family was planning a trip to go with my Aunt and Uncle and their kids to go visit their Nana and Papa on the island.  It's a wee island about an hours drive from where we live.  You can only get their by ferry.  I was so excited about this trip, particularly the prospect of riding the boat over.  However, I didn't get to go.  Because I was grounded my mother arranged for my grandma to come stay at the house with me for the two days they were gone.


At the end of the school year I discovered that Jeffie was moving.  I was pretty darn upset.   I remember the last time I saw him.  We played at the park, and when it came time to head home he made a big deal about kissing me to say goodbye.  We went around behind a tree so the other kids wouldn't see and laugh. So that was my first kiss.  I would have been eight at the time.

After I was born my mom went back to work.  She worked as a front desk clerk at a hotel in downtown Windsor.  After my brother was born (1978), she didn't return to work.  She was a stay-at-home mom the entire time I was growing up.  She wasn't to start working outside of the home again until I was in the later part of highschool.

In December of 1982 my little sister was born.  My mom was very sick throughout the pregnancy.  I remember my grandmother, my dad's mom, coming and staying at our home to help out.  A favourite family story is how while my grandmother was over helping she found my moms rag pile made up of old socks and underwear, and she washed, bleached, repaired and darned them all.  Personally I remember being fixated on discovering just one thing about the baby to be, and it wasn't the gender... I couldn't wait to learn what kind of belly button the new baby would have, an innie or an outie.

First time holding my 12 day old baby sister (and for the record I dropped her right after this photo was taken).

We didn't have a family car, so we walked many places, and often took the bus.  This must have been a pain in the butt for my mom, but as a kid I remember loving it.  An appointment to see the dentist or the allergist turned into a whole day affair, with the entire day off of school.   Sometimes my Dad would drop us off at my grandparents in the morning on his way to work, then my grandfather would drive us to the doctors in his big blue Lincoln.

My grandfather used to deliver bakery goods by horse and buggy.  (In the 50's if you can believe it?! ) He was an easily distracted driver.  Any ride with him included a running commentary on his thoughts about the city, and pointing out all of the places he used to stop on his bread route.  I remember one time he had just had his car cleaned and the upholstery scotch guarded.  He didn't listen when I complained that the smell was making me ill, and I puked all over his freshly cleaned seats.  After that every time I got in his car he would view me with trepidation.

My dad worked with my grandfather at the family business.  He sold office furniture and rented chairs, tables an party equipment.  He worked six days a week from 7am to 5pm.  The weeks leading up to Christmas were always particularly busy for him, and he would often get home from work after us kids were in bed.

I would hear my dad leaving for work in the morning and I would get up in my nightgown and head to the big picture window in the dining room which faced the roadway.  I would stand and wave goodbye to him in the window as he pulled away.  I remember how I loved standing directly on top of the heating grate so that the hot air would blow up around me.  The metal was so hot it scorched my toes.

My dad would often play catch in the backyard with my brother and I.  Or sometimes we would head to the nearby park and play baseball.  He was always willing to humour my big imagination.  When we were driving around town our Shaggon Wagon became the Batmobile or KITT from Knight Rider. My brother or I would choose a car and order him to follow it "in super pursuit mode"!

I loved watching the old Batman show from the 60s in syndication.  One of my favourite imaginary friends was Batman. I told anyone that would listen that I wanted to marry Batman when I grew up. My Wonder Woman Underoos and Magic Lasso set helped complete the fantasy.


This was in 1982-1983.  I loved the Fisher Price record player I got for Christmas that year.  That thing saw a lot of mileage. (Heck, I still have it.)  I also spent a lot of time playing with my Strawberry Shortcake dolls. I remember really liking the animated specials that came out for Strawberry Shortcake.  I think it was around this time as well that I saw the movie Xanadu on TV.  It was a movie with Greek gods and roller skating!  I adored it!  I remember saving up to buy the LP.  I used to get $1 a week allowance.

O is also for outside.  My favourite place within Ontario to be outdoors is Algonquin Park. I have camped there several times. Each time was wonderful and quite memorable. My first time visiting the park when I saw how awe inspiring a place it was my immediate reaction was THIS is the place that all those lovely postcards of Ontario are taken from!  I always thought it was lovely view to the front, snap - there's a postcard, and directly behind you an industrial wasteland, or at best farmers fields. To discover a real place where the views are like this 360 blew me away.

When I was giving birth to my first daughter, late in the birth when the contractions were horrible waves to ride through, the doula told me to focus on my happy place.  This is what I was focusing on, my memories of Algonquin; cool breeze,the scent of pine,  tall tall trees, a pair of mated loons calling out over the lake, wolves howling, red autumn leaves glowing in the sunshine.


Now here is where I should be inserting all of my awesome camping pics, but I don't have them.  They were stored on my external harddrive, which recently fried.  Lesson learned. Back up the back up.  Thankfully I didn't lose all the photos of my girls, as the majority of them are online.




I do however have some photos, from my very last camping trip to Algonquin on which I managed to drag my sister along. She brought her manual camera and took tons of gorgeous shots.  So there's something to say for manual over digital. Besides my sister is a much better photographer then I am.  I'm sad that I lost all of the pictures from previous years, but pleased that I still have these original hardcopies. And now writing this post has prompted me to scan them in and post them online. Doubly saved!

Me, in my Happy Place.

Postcards taken from my mom's collection, and photography courtesy of Holly Pageau.

I lucked out and won these lovely Domistyle oven mitts from a giveaway hosted over at Mom vs the Boys.  Domistyle specializes in designer quality aprons.    Head over to their website to check out their many stylish aprons.  (For the Locals, Envy Boutique in Windsor carries their stuff!)  They have also started making coordinating oven and pot mitts.

They are great oven mitts.  Really high quality stuff. Quilted and cozy, they have a bit of a pleat at the end so they open extra wide to accommodate the sleeve from whatever you're wearing. I love that the business side of them is made from heat resistant 3M fabric.

So why am I giving them away?

Well the thing is, these oven mitts are pink, shockingly pink, and I am violently allergic to pink.  Other then the fact that they are pink and covered in pink hearts, they’re lovely and well made. I think someone without my pink aversion would love to have these.  In this picture I find they look sort of burgandy-ish. (Probably my monitors fault)  In real life they are more of a purple-pink.

I want to be clear that these are BRAND NEW. I took them out of the plastic sleeve and gave them a good look over and tried them on so I could give an honest description.  They still have the tags on, and other then my trying them on for like thirty seconds haven't been used.
WIN IT:
Pair of Domistyle Oven Mitts, ARV $19.99

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GIVEAWAY RULES
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My husband's been sick for the past few days.  As in, truly miserable, sent home from work twice, sick.  It's such a horrible feeling, watching him stumble around the house in misery, while I'm just waiting with dread to see who it will strike next.  Knowing the inevitability of it, that the girls are likely to take sick at any moment. Depressing.

We tried to stave off the inevitable.  He's been avoiding contact with the girls, not holding the baby, not hugging G-Girl, etc. It's meant some added stress for me over the last few days, as I'm not getting any help with the girls. He might as well not be here. Yet he is here, coughing and blowing his nose loudly, a constant reminder of what's to come.

Then last night it happened.  First the baby started getting all stuffy. By the time I was putting her down for bed she was having a horrible time nursing,.  Poor little stuffalumpagus.  The baby woke up like 3 hours earlier then usual to nurse. Then, as I was getting ready for bed,  I could hear G-Girl coughing a bit in her sleep. So I was braced for it. But I wasn't expecting what happened next.

I was woken at 2:30 in the morning to G-Girl crying and screaming at the top of her lungs.  I jumped out of bed and hurried downstairs, wondering what the problem was, and thinking maybe she'd woken up upset from a nightmare (something that's yet to happen).  Here is my girl, so upset she is shaking from head to toe and yelling at the top of her lungs, "Dad Made Me SICK!! He Did it. He MADE me.  Made me SICK!!!" like she thought it was something her father did to her on purpose.  Yes, over the last few days we've said many times, stay away from you're father or you'll get sick.  I guess we said it a bit too much.  She was so UPSET, shaking and in tears with snot running down her face.  She was so angry about the booggies, which were more from her crying then anything.  It took over half an hour to get her to calm down.   She told me that Dad made her throat go all dried up.  So basically, no fever, sore throat, stuffy nose.  Mostly indignant and inconsolable.  I stripped her down, slathered her with some vicksvaporub, got her back into her PJS and after a long and lingering snuggle got her tucked back into bed.

At which point I notice the baby is HOWLING at the top of her lungs and probably has been for sometime, I just couldn't hear her over G-Girl's dramatics.  So upstairs to snot covered baby, also upset and in tears, spend an hour comforting, calming and nursing her.  Husband somehow managed to sleep through all these shenanigans. Fun night.

Woke up this morning, of course, to two sick little girls.  Seems pretty darn inevitable at this point that it's going to strike me sometime soon.  So if I disappear for a little while you'll know why.

I had trouble coming up with memories that are distinct to Grade 1. So much of that time flows together in my mind.

I've been poking fun at my mom at how few pictures there are from that time, and in particular that there are no photos of her.  We sometimes forget how lucky we are to live in the age of digital cameras, no photo development fees, no film to buy, and the film never expires.  It seems the only photos I have are of holidays and vacations.

My Dad playing Hungry Hungry Hippos with my brother and me on Christmas morning.

Each year for Hallowe'en my mom would make us costumes from scratch.  We got to pick whatever we wanted to be and she always came through with a costume.  One year my little sister was Roger Rabbit, that one was pretty impressive.  Another year I was a Fairy Princess. My mom tried to talk me out of it, but  I insisted. I had this ancient beaded bridal tiara that I think was my great grandmothers. My mom resized a lime green bridesmaid dress, adding some flowers and ribbons to it, and made me a magic wand to carry.    As I went door to door some people thought I was a fairy and some people thought I was a princess, but no one "got" that I was a fairy princess. I remember that I was so pissed off that night.

My favourite Hallowe'en costume she ever made me though was the one I wore in first grade.  It was my first time wearing a costume to school, as we hadn't done that in kindergarten. I went as Jeanie, from I Dream of Jeanie.  I had bright pink silk pantaloons made from one of my mom's old negligees.  I wore a white turtleneck with this vest my mom had made with bricabrac all around the edges. My hair was up in a high ponytail with beads wrapped around the base. And I even had pointed Genie shoes.  I felt like a million bucks in that costume. I loved it.  How I wish my mom had taken pictures of that costume!

Our First Grade Reader, Mr. Mugs

Near the end of Kindergarten I was diagnosed with milk allergies, so from age six onwards I didn't have dairy.  This mostly sucked at birthday parties, no pizza, no ice cream, no cake. I remember being upset that I could no longer eat Kraft Dinner, the first thing I had learned to cook on the stove top by myself.

I think the best part of Grade 1 was finally learning to read and write.  I had pestered my mom for years to teach me to read, but she refused.  She had been told it would be bad for me to learn too early, or to learn before I started school.

Around the time we moved to Windsor my parents sold their car and the only vehicle we had was my dad's work van.  It was a bright red van with lettering for Ace Office Furniture on the side.  My dad had the van custom fitted when it was purchased.  He added in bucket seats in the back for us kids to ride in.  There was a window panel, but only on the passenger side. The entire thing was carpeted. The carpet was the same as the new carpet in the front room of our new house. They matched.  Behind the row of bucket seats was a large open area all covered in carpet and along the drivers side, behind the wheel well was a small fridge! We used to call it the Shaggon Wagon, because of the shaggy carpet.

When I was about three and a half my mom's parents moved to Florida.  Over the years we were to visit with them many times.  The second of those trips was in February of 1982.  We rode down there in the Shaggon Wagon. It was about a 24 hour drive and my dad would do the whole thing straight, without stopping for sleep or staying in a motel. Which when I think about it now is pretty crazy.  I loved those rides. My favourite part was driving through the Rocky Mountains. I was 6 and my brother was 3.  Neither of us had car seats. We laid sleeping bags, pillows and blankets in the back and would crawl back there and lay down to sleep.  We would take turns riding on my mom's lap up front to enjoy the view.  We would stretch out in the back and sit on the floor and colour and look at books.  We would stand right up against the back doors of the van and look out the rear windows.  All of which would be highly illegal now a days.


When we went to visit my Mim and Pip we stayed at their house.  We usually stayed for about two weeks. No motel and no eating out, so it was a real low budget vacation.  We would go grocery shopping while down there and buy things like Clamato and non-frozen Orange Juice for treats.  I remember once we went to Venezuela Beach to pick sharks teeth.  Another time we went to Busch Gardens, which I remember as having a lot of roller-coasters and rides I wasn't big enough to go on.  Sunken Gardens, with all the bright tropical birds, lizards and animal shows was much better.  And of course we went to Disney World.  We would get up at like 4 in the morning and drive from Sarasota (where my Mim and Pip lived) to Orlando, walk around all day and enjoy the Magic Kingdom and then turn around and drive back, returning well past bedtime.

This was 1981 to 1982.  I loved watching Little House on the Prairie.  Most of my favourite shows were in syndication, Bewtiched, I Dream of Jeanie, Green Acres.  I must have watched cartoons, but none stand out in my mind.  What I do remember are the hour long "specials", Puff the Magic Dragon and The Lion the Witch and The Wardrobe. 

That animation of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, I only saw it once but it stayed with me for years.  I had a wardrobe which had come from my grandma's house and I used to sit in it for hours hoping to fall through to Narnia.

My favourite toys were Legos and Fisher Price Little People.  Both of which I was to continue playing with until I was like 12 or 13 (having the excuse of a younger sibling was great).  I would spend hours building very elaborate multi level houses, complete with balconies and brick furniture.   I also remember making dollhouses out of cardboard boxes. Building furniture out of wooden spools and matchboxes and making potted plants out of garbage twist ties.

I'd tuck you in all safe at night
And hear your prayers, turn out the light,
Then tiptoe softly to the door . . .
I wish I'd stayed a minute more.

For life is short, the years rush past . . .
A little boy grows up so fast.
No longer is he at your side,
His precious secrets to confide.

The picture books are put away,
There are no longer games to play,
No good-night kiss, no prayers to hear . . .
That all belongs to yesteryear.

My hands, once busy, now are still.
The days are long and hard to fill.
I wish I could go back and do
The little things you asked me to.
~ Alice E. Chase

but this happily is what my children look like.

Link up your nifty N words at ABC Wednesday - HERE

Last week I ordered a couple of cool freebies.   A poster map of the world, and a poster of marine life, offered free from various branches of the Canadian government (Your tax dollars at work). They both showed up in yesterday's mail.

I was a little disappointed in the world map. (Brought to you by Canadian Geographic and the Canadian International Development Agency)  It focuses on showing the various levels of wealth/poverty across the world.  The different countries are colour coded based on wealth and the various boundaries blur together.  It's also printed on rather thin paper, and came folded. Still it's big and colourful.  I hung it on the wall in G-Girls' room and she was pretty pleased with it.

The second poster I received, the marine life one, is awesome!   It is "frame me" poster quality and is printed on lovely thick paper.  The art/illustration is great.  It shows various sea creatures such as haddock, seals, humpback whales, etc. with their names just below each in both English and French. It also came in a rather nice shipping tube, which I'll probably be able to reuse.  The baby's room has an "under the sea" theme, so I was pretty happy to hang this in there.  I would really recommend sending away for this one if you're little one is at all interested in sea creatures. Thank you Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages.

If you know of any other kid friendly freebies out there I'd love to hear about 'em.

Back before my first pregnancy I was a fairly busy lady. I was running my own small business selling vintage toys online.  I sold toys on eBay and I had a webpage, Retro Toybox, which I had made from scratch in html.  I also had a second webpage, Recycled Fairytales, were I sold vintage kids books and art made from destroyed books. I worked part time at the local Arts Council. I was going to University part time, finishing up my honours degree in Classical Civ.  The house didn’t always look perfect, but it was passably clean and dinner was on the table.  I kept weird hours and slept in pretty much whenever I wanted to.

Now I get up at 6 in the morning with my baby. I muddle through the day in a sort of sleep-walking zombie haze.  I spend the day taking care of my girls. The house is a sty.  Getting dinner onto the table is usually my sole noticeable achievement for the day. 

I want something to show for my time.  Yes, I’m engaged in the most important job in the world, that of trying to raise two little minds into something resembling civilized behavior.   But when they go to bed at the end of the day I want to tackle something more meaningful then the mountain of dishes in my kitchen.

Now that Baby-G is getting a little older, I actually tend to have both girls in bed and asleep by 8:30ish.   Most evenings once the girls are asleep I spend time with my husband.  This usually means one of two things, sitting on the couch watching TV, or sitting in the computer room looking over his shoulder while he surfs the internet.  I feel like I have so little free time.  That it’s a really precious commodity right now.  I hate to waste it sitting in front of the TV. 

Back before I had any babies, when I had this wacky thing called free time, I used to make art.  To be specific, I used to dissect abused children's books and turn them into block puzzles and keepsake boxes. Yeah, so I used to make things which people often bought for kids, and now that I have my own I've stopped. The irony isn't lost on me.

Our computer room doubles as the crafting room, where my husband sometimes works on painting miniatures.  There’s a large L-shaped desk in the corner where I can sit and make art, while my husband sits four feet away doing his computer thing.  About a month ago I challenged myself to start making art again.  I'm trying to find the time to make Recycled Fairytales boxes again.  I told myself I would make one a week from now until Christmas.  That was several weeks ago, and I'm only almost done one.  Still, it's something.

Anyroad I felt like bragging a bit that I actually managed to make something. So here's some pics of my latest creation, It's Jolly as Jolly to Live in a Shoe:



I made this with a vintage cedar box and a destroyed copy of The Children that Lived in a Shoe, a Rand McNally "Start Right Elf" picture book, copyright 1951.

It's not quite finished. It still needs a top coat of varnish and some felt on the base.  Still, I'm happy to have something concrete to show for my time.

I haven't decided what I'd going to do with these yet.  Maybe put them in the Arts Council's Christmas members show.  I've often wondered if this sort of thing would sell on Etsy and if it would be worth my time. As I mentioned before I had made myself a webpage to sell vintage kids books and promote my art, but the darn thing stopped working.  I think the problem is it only works in Netscape, and many people (myself included) have moved on to Firefox or Chrome. (If you want to see my somewhat functional old page take a look here.)

I'm so excited that Groupon has finally come to Windsor!  For a while now I've been watching with jealousy as people in Toronto and Vancouver linked up all the great deals they've been taking advantage of.

If you've never heard of it, the idea behind Groupon is local "group" coupons.  They provide deals for restaurants and other shopping experiences at a deep discount.  Each deal will have a minimum number of people that need to participate, so for example twenty people need to purchase the deal before it goes live.

They've only opened the doors to the Windsor site three days ago.  Yesterday they offered a deal for Yoga classes.  Today they are offering a coupon for Gourmet Emporium ($15 for $35 worth of tapas and drinks).

Gourmet Emporium is a tapas place.  My husband and I have eaten there several times before.  We've always loved the food, but have complained how the prices have risen since they first opened.  The last time we ate there we decided it was simply out of our budget.  Now with the chance to pay $15 for $35 worth of food, we'll be going back to visit them again sometime soon!

So I caved today and bought in on the deal.  The check out process was really simple.  After paying I was told that I would receive my coupon in 24h hours, but when I checked my email like 10 minutes later it was already there waiting for me to print it out.  I can't wait to see what they offer next.

I have a fair amount of early childhood memories, from when I was 2 and 3 years old and on. I look at my three year old daughter now and wonder what, if anything, she'll remember from her life right now.


Up until I was five, we lived in a mobile home in Essex, a small town about a half hour drive outside of Windsor, Ontario. My husband often teases me that I grew up in a trailer park. It was a little more permanent then that. My dad had built an addition onto the back, and there was a lovely wooden deck for a front porch.  The reception area, when you first came in the front door, was my play room. I had this Holly Hobbie cardboard house that I loved, which took up most of the space and was usually jammed full of stuffed animals, such that I couldn't actually get inside it. There was a small lip along the inside edge of this playhouse where I used to line up my Red Rose Tea figurine collection.


One of my most vivid memories is of the day I got the scar which I still have on my face. I was three years old. My mother was pregnant with my brother and she was working on getting the nursery ready. She had lifted me into the crib, and I was sitting in there playing with some stuffed dolls. She left the room when the phone rang. The closet door was open and I could see these trays full of golf balls in the closet, piled with some shiny metal serving trays. I wanted those golf balls! I climbed up on top of the stuffed animals and strained to reach them. I managed to knock the pile out of the closet, just as I fell out of the crib. When I landed the corner of a metal serving tray cut my face, a deep cut along my cheek bone. I was terribly lucky that it missed my eye. I remember it really hurt and I couldn't stop crying. My mom just kept holding me on her lap and rocking me in this big fire engine red bentwood rocker we had. I remember the hospital had a special children's room with a mural painted on the ceiling and that I got to hold my mom's hand as they stitched me up.

Summer '78

My other most vivid memory from this time is the day I got my cat, Tina. We went to a family reunion held at my Mom's Uncle Paul's farm. There were three legged races and potatoes sack races. We got to see horses in the barn. Supposedly I "won" a cat in a potato sack race. I remember climbing under this big wooden front porch and picking out my kitten. She was mostly black with some white on her paws. The entire car ride home my parents debated if we were really going to keep her. We walked in the front door, I saw a can of tuna sitting on the dining room table and I told my mom that I wanted to name the cat Tuna Fish. She wouldn't go for it. I then promptly came up with Tina Leena Too. I don't have a clue where the Tina Leena part hopped into my head from, but I do know that in my mind the Too always meant "Also Tuna Fish".

One of my favourite stories my mom tells from this time is of my imaginary friend "The Big Black Man With The Mustache". When my mom caught me "baking" a birthday cake for her, by mixing flour and sugar in a pile on the floor it was The Big Black Man With The Mustache's idea. When I opened the front door and let in not just our cat, but also a strange stray, The Big Black Man With the Mustache did it. My parents had no idea where this fellow stemmed from, and when I was older my dad used to make off-colour jokes about how he used to think my imaginary friend was actually a reference to my mom's (non-existent)secret boyfriend. In actuality, I remember that he came from the image of Hercule Poirot on the covers of my mom's Agatha Christie books.

The Big Black Man With The Mustache

I remember that when there was company, the grown-ups would be sitting at the dining room table, and I would stand at my mom's elbow waiting for her to pay attention to me. She would draw me these abstract doodles and I would take them away and colour them. Then I would return with the finished picture and stand at her elbow, waiting for her to acknowledge me and for her to make me another picture to colour.

She also used to take the paper grocery sacks and turn them into full body masks. She would cut a bit up the sides for my arms, and cut out eye and nose holes. She would draw characters from TV, like Miss Piggy, or from my story books. I loved those puppet/masks. I had a pile of them. I remember being really disappointed when we moved and the new grocery store offered plastic bags.

My Heroes: The G-Force

The summer of my fifth year we moved into a three bedroom house in Windsor. For me our move was characterized by minor inconveniences. It happened to coincide with my favourite cartoon, G-Force, being taken off the air. I remember thinking it was because we moved that our TV would no longer pick it up. I was also sad because the cardboard playhouse that I loved didn't survive. Once taken apart, my parents couldn't get it to go back together again.

That fall I started kindergarten at the nearby school, which I would attend for the next nine years.

This was around 1977-1980. My favourite TV shows were Mickey Mouse Club, The Muppet Show and G-Force.

"Make-believe colors the past with innocent distortion, and it swirls ahead of us in a thousand ways-in science, in politics, in every bold intention. It is part of our collective lives, entwining our past and our future ... a particularly rewarding aspect of life itself." ~ Shirley Temple Black

As I mentioned before I’ve been reading the Oz books to G-Girl.  Each night at bedtime we read a chapter.  Right now we're reading book five, Road to Oz.

Some interesting conversations stem from these bedtime reads…

In the second book in the series, The Land of Oz, there is an uprising and General Jinjur removes the Scarecrow from the throne. Later the rightful heir to the thrown, Ozma, becomes Queen.  G-Girl wanted to know about Kings and Queens and what they do.  It’s a natural question, given that they come up often enough in stories and during playtime.  So I told her that as Queen it would be Ozma’s job to look after the Emerald City.

A week later and we’re almost finishing up the third book - Ozma of Oz.  After their adventures in the Land of Ev the heroes are returning to the Emerald City and out of nowhere G-Girl asks me, “Why does the Emerald City need someone to look after it?” After I try and explain why a city needs someone to look after it she followed up with, “Who looks after Canada?”  It’s ten minutes past bedtime and here I am trying to explain democracy to my three year old, and yes in Canada we sort of have a Queen, but not really.  This is why I should stick to Wibbly Pig is Happy.


Last night at bedtime she announced that she was getting into her PJs and I could now come and take pictures of her with her Oz book.   I humored her and snapped some pics.  We read her chapter and then she got ready to snuggle down for the night, at which point she demanded that I take pictures of her getting ready to sleep. Too much blogging over here for sure.

My little thumb sucker settling down for the night.

Five years ago when we moved from our apartment into this, our first house, we gave up satellite T.V.  We had made a pretty tight budget.  Plus there were all of those stupid moving expenses, like turning on the hydro and all that.  At first we intended to get "TV" again down the road.  It kept getting put off, and I eventually found that  I didn't even miss it.  It's now been over five and half years since we've had cable/satellite in our place.

It's not like we never watch TV. We beg, borrow, and buy DVDs.  We have borrowed many "complete seasons" from my in laws.  Pre-G-Girl we used to spend most evenings eating dinner in front of the TV.  We would watch an episode or two of something on DVD and then head to bed.

When I was pregnant with G-Girl my husband broached the subject of TV.  He felt a child not having access to television was tantamount to child abuse.  Seriously.  Like someone could call child services on you because you were denying your child TV privileges.  I don't miss TV, but I think he does.  Several times he's tried to play the "but we need it for the children" card on me to convince me that we need to subscribe to some sort of television service again.

Overall I love the fact that G-Girl doesn't have access to cable.  She does see a fair amount of TV.  Probably more then she should.  Maybe an average of an hour to two a day.  Some days less. Some days more. Some days none.  I have to admit, since having babe number two using the TV as an instant sitter has become a much more tempting option.

Because I can't just turn on Treehouse, I always know what she's watching.  I watch it with her, at least the first time. So I know exactly what she's seeing.  She never sees commercials, so she's never asking for wacky stuff.  I can't stand the Wiggles, so we have no Wiggles.  After watching the one Bananas in Pajamas DVD about 10 times, I decided it had no redeeming qualities and it "disappeared".  We watched "Hello Kitten" yesterday, and it's definitely meant for an older age group, so I'm setting it aside for a bit. My G-Girl approved watch list includes Doodlebops, Zoboomafoo, Blues Clues, and Yo Gabba Gabba.   There used to be a fair amount of Baby Einstein in the mix, but she now refers to that as "baby TV" and only breaks it out when her sister is around.

On the negative side, she watches the same stuff over and over and over again.  I'm guessing she's seen most of our Zoboo or Blues Clues episodes at least 10-20 times a piece. I worry sometimes what effect that has on her mind, to just watch the same thing over and over, to already know the answers and to not have to be engaged with the show, or think.

One day last week G-Girl said to me, "Today is BOOORING.  It's a boring boring day."  I thought overall all the stuff we had done that day and I was genuinely confused.  I asked her why it was boring and she said, "Because I haven't seen any TV!"  Ack.  I hate that she loves it so much.  If she had her dithers she would sit in a TV induced comma for the entire day.

So what do you think?  How much TV is too much for a three year old?  And what's the low down on TV at your place?

Well Happy Happy Turkey Day to you all.  I hope you all have a wonderful day, full of friends and family, that leaves you feeling that you truly have something to be thankful for.

Me?  I'm thankful for my family, my beautiful girls and my ever-understanding husband, and for fall leaves, sunshine and trees.

We're trying something different this year and having Thanksgiving dinner at a local restaurant (Blue Danube).  Here's hoping both the girls behave and I don't have to crawl under the table and hide.  I'm bringing my secret Baby-G weapon, Cheerios.  Wish me luck.

A while back I won a pair Zupers Leggings from a giveaway hosted on Natural Baby Goods.

The idea behind Zupers is: 

functional leggings for active girls featuring removable knee pads, rip-resistant UV fabric and comfy fit.

I let G-Girl pick out the style, and I was happy when she went with the plain chocolate brown ones.  Though she currently takes a size 3T, I choose a size 4.  When they arrived I told her they were too big, and that we'd set them aside.  She then snuck into her room and tried them on.  I was surprised to find that they fit.  The tiniest bit baggy, but doable.  Since the fabric is stretchy, I imagine she is going to get a lot of wear out of these as they should fit for quite some time.

G-Girl Says
G-Girl loves these pants. She wants to wear them all the time, by which I have to assume they are quite comfy. She loves the little "secret  treasure pocket".  It really sparked her imagination.  She goes around hunting for pretend treasures to fill her pocket whenever she wears these.

My Thoughts
First, you have to understand that I almost never buy clothing new for the girls.  We either get it as gifts, or I pick it up used.  I would totally pay for another pair of these! They are awesome.  The fabric is a little bit stretchy, yet also has a nice soft feel to it. The removable knee pads aren't bulky at all.  (Though personally, I'm not sure what the benefit is to them being removable? Other then to look and see how they come out, I've never actually removed them.)  And most importantly they have washed up quite nicely.


The Fall Test
Right after taking this picture we went for a walk and G-Girl managed to wipe out on the sidewalk. They stood up to concrete quite well. Not a mark on them, or her.  She's also taken spills while wearing these in the backyard.  I was impressed because they didn't pick up any grass stains.

Cons
The only complaint I have is that these are cold water wash and hang to dry.  I know they are going to end up in the dryer by mistake.  On the upside, it's already happened once and so far they seem fine.

Where to find it?
Sadly underrepresented on the Canadian retail scene, Zupers are only available in Alberta and BC.  However you can order directly from the Zupers online shop. Shipping in kind of steep though ($13).  They also carry matching headbands, shorts and organic cotton T-shirts. Prices for the leggings range from $24-$28, based on sizing.

My parents were told that I would be a New Years baby.  The original due date my mom was given was January 1st.  My birthday is March 12th.  Those last two months must have been hell for her.  This was in 1975.  There were no ultrasounds.  Now-a-days they have you wear a lead apron during x-rays if there is even the possibility of you being pregnant. Back then they gave my mom an x-ray to check how I was doing in there.

She was brought in for induction, twice, and nothing happened.  She described it to me, how anxious she was, how she was watching the other woman who was sharing the room with her get the pitocin drip and almost immediately go into contractions while NOTHING happened with her.  Eventually they decided that she needed a c-section.  So I was a scheduled cesarean birth.  I was born on a Wednesday, as were both my brother and sister, because that was the day our family doctor worked at the hospital.

My name is Deanna Rose.  I've always been told that my mom's father, my Pip, named me. He named me Deanna, after the actress/singer Deanna Durbin.  My Pip's mother, my great grandmother was named Rose.  My dad's mother is also named Rose.  I've been told that together my name means "Bright Love", and that's why my Pip picked it. 

When pregnant with my second child and obsessing over what to call her, it finally occurred to me that the fact that my grandfather named me is a little odd.  I called my mom and asked her why.  She told me that her and my father could not agree on a name.  That I was 2 days old and still they couldn't agree. My Pip made the suggestion and they both liked it and went with it.  Apparently if it had been up to my mom I would have been named either Audrey or Genevieve.  It's a little strange because Genevieve just happens to be the name of my second daughter and we had already decided on this before I heard this story from my mum.

The day we tried to attend the Peche Island day trip, we got turned back at the boat because they didn't have infant-sized life jackets.  Instead we ended up going for a short hike and a picnic.  We parked on McHugh, just east of  the WFCU centre and took a pedestrian tunnel under the roadway.  I think this area is called McHugh Park. It's part of the Little River Corridor and it's quite lovely for someplace within the city.

Me, walking with G-Girl, Baby-G in wrap.

G-Girl walking with her Mimi

G-Girl wants to very badly to help me cook.  I have a gate barring access to the kitchen.  90% of the time if I am cooking she is at the gate begging me to let her come in and help.

I do let her help sometimes.  I should probably let her help more often.  I feel guilty, but everything takes 10 times longer with her "helping".  I usually don't start on dinner until after my husband gets home and can help with keeping an eye on the baby, so I'm working within a time limit. I also have a very small kitchen.  I like it that way.  Heck it was one of the deciding features for picking this house.

The problem is there really isn't anywhere for G-Girl to safely be in my wee kitchen.  She ends up smack in the middle of the room. I'm constantly stepping over her.  Since she can't reach the counter we end up assembling dinner on the kitchen floor.  Seriously.  Putting together a roast on the kitchen floor.  And having to shoo the damn cat out of the way.

I end up giving her "make work" tasks.  Like while I was peeling the parsnips for the roast, I gave her the bag of mini carrots and let her place them one by one in the roast pan.  I give her cloves of garlic to peel.  I sometimes let her help measure stuff, or pour things into the mixing bowl.  That usually gets pretty messy though. She loves to stir things. But again, messy!

I feel badly  because not only am I giving her silly make work to do, but she also seems to be catching on.  She wants to "really cook".

I'm conflicted. On the one hand, I don't want to discourage her. I want her to want to help, I want her to learn.  I also want her to be safe.  I'm not letting my three year old near the stovetop.  And then there's the mess/annoyance factor.  I feel badly when she's at the gate begging to be let in the kitchen, but sometimes I just want to cook in peace.  I just want to get through getting dinner ready, get it over with, and not add another 30 minutes to the process.

Does anyone have suggestions for things she can help with?  Some easy kid recipes?  Or do you think that at three she is just too young?

We took the kids this morning to get IDed at the Masoni Ch I. P program at the Devonshire Mall.

I was pretty impressed. It was well organized. There was zero wait time.  They had the area divided into several private booths, so that they could be working with more then one family at a time.

We had to fill out some forms, and get the kids' weight and height.  Then they took us into a booth where a woman entered our info into a laptop.  They had G-Girl sit on her Dad’s lap so she’d be the right height for the camera and they used a video camera to take photos of G-Girl from the front, and both sides.   They then took a short video with her speaking into a microphone.  The fingerprint component was also 100% electronic.  No mess. It was a nifty little gadget that put the prints right into the computer.  All of this was then burned into an “amber alert compliant” CD.  They then repeated the whole process with Baby-G, minus the chatting parts.  Next they had G-Girl make a dental imprint, and then they wiped a swab in the both of the girls’ mouths for DNA samples. 

We ended up with a separate CD for each kid. We were told that, heaven forbid, if anything were to ever happen to one of our girls we could hand this CD to the police and they would be able to access it on the computers in their squad car, and immediately upload an amber alert.  We were also told that we could burn copies of this CD (I should get on that).

I really think having your children take part in a program like this is important.  I hate to even think of the possibility of anything bad happening to my girls. But if something did happen, now I know I’ve done everything I can to help protect them. 

G-Girl thought the whole thing was a treat.   The people we worked with were great with the kids.  They were professional, polite and thorough.  The whole thing is free. It took maybe 20 minutes to get both of the kids IDed.

I’d really recommend heading out to the Devonshire mall to take advantage of this program.  
It’s on again tomorrow, Sunday October 3rd, from 11am to 5pm.

Last weekend for the first time I attended a Mom2Mom sale as a seller and overall it was a disappointment.  While attending sales in the past it has seemed like the sellers were doing really well, with lots of empty or near empty tables at the end.  I expected to sell the majority of my stuff.  Instead I went home with 95% of what I brought.

Pre-Sale
As a seller I had chance to take part in the pre-sale.  The pre-sale started at 9am, while the doors didn't open to the public until 10:30am.  The pre-sale was interesting.  I enjoyed that aspect more then I expected.  It's not just that you get a chance at grabbing stuff before the masses get there... it's also really nice shopping the sale while it's relatively empty.  I noticed several people shopping during the pre-sale with kids in giant buggies.  You could get away with it. There was actually room for strollers.

As I said, I liked the presale way more then I expected to.  I picked up an awesome winter jacket for G-Girl and two different baby carriers that I'm looking forward to trying out.  On the other hand, I love to dicker for deals, which just wasn't happening.  If you took the time to hunt around, there were still great deals to be had...but not like the ones you can score later in the sale.  I did take advantage of the pre-sale to scout out some items that I then went back to look at a second time later in the day.

Anyone that donated goodies to the bakesale got to shop the pre-sale.  It's something I would recommend.  Pre-arrange to bring some bake goods and get in early (and for free!)to shop the sale.  It's a good deal.    If you don't like crowds, want to bring the kids with you, don't mind paying a little more, or are looking for particular  items, I'd definitely recommend taking advantage of the pre-sale.


Shoe Sizing
We just happened to head out and buy new shoes for the G-Girl the day before the sale.  Since I had just had her feet measured the night before I knew exactly what size shoes to grab.   I need to remember to do this again next sale!  It was a stroke of brilliance, getting G-Girls feet measured at the shoe store the day previous.  I picked up 5 pairs of shoes for $1 or $2 each which actually FIT.


Selling
 I rented two 5 foot spaces and brought my own tables.  There were basically three rooms of stuff, and I was in the third room in the far back corner, as far away as possible from the doors where people were entering the sale.

I priced my stuff cheap, a dollar, fifty cents.  It was comparative to what others were charging if not less.  But I felt like no one even LOOKED at my stuff.  So few people bothered to stop and look. It was really disheartening.  The majority of people coming by my table were carrying armloads of stuff and were making a beeline for the nearby exit.

I don't know if being right near the front doors would be the best spot.  It's possible that people would overlook much of what was available right at the start, holding out for better. From talking to other sellers and from looking at the amounts of stuff people had left, it seemed like being located round the middle paid off best.

If you're considering selling at one of these sales, here's what I would recommend:
Bring a float of at least $80-$100, mostly in loonies and twonies.
Make sure to also bring a separate spending allowance.

I didn't bring nearly enough change.  I had a float of 41 dollars on me.  I almost immediately borrowed another 30 off of my mom.   It would not be an exaggeration to say that I had at least 7 people buy something for 1 or 2 dollars and pay with a 20.  Several times I left my mom behind to run the table and made a foray out into the sale so that I myself might buy something small and get more change. 

I also made a critical error in planning.  I didn't think to bring extra money with me for BUYing.   So I was digging into my float to make purchases.

I probably spent the most I ever have at one of these sales.  The combination of paying full price during the presale, using cash from my float, and heading out multiple times to buy something and make change was lethal on my budget.  I know that overall, I spent more then I made, but I don't know exactly how much I made.  I definitely came home in the negative, particularly once you add in the cost to be there.


Overall
Overall, I think I'll try being a seller one more time.   I have no clue how the spaces are assigned.  I want to contact the organizers and see if there's anyway to control where I'm placed for the spring sale.

This was the largest sale to date, with over 150 tables. As these sales keep getting large, it means better deals for the buyer, more competition and less guarantee of great sales for the seller.

Last week I lucked out and won a Blabla doll from Canadian Natural Mama Reviews.

I let G-Girl pick which one she wanted. Personally I would have went with this guy (Peeko), but she choose Lee Lee Plum.

If I had any sense I would have picked out a Blabla doll and then tucked it away for a Christmas gift.  As it was though, G-Girl had a blast picking out her doll and waiting for her to arrive.

Lee Lee arrived in today’s mail and was an instant hit. G-Girl insisted on toting her everywhere.  I was really impressed by the quality of this doll.  She is so amazingly soft and cuddly. The seams and stitching appear to be quite sturdy. I think she is going to hold up well.  I love that she's  machine washable. G-Girl likes the bright colours and the crazy pink knobs on the top of Ms. Plum’s head, which she insists are extra ears.
I was impressed with how quickly it arrived. I love that Giving Gifts is a Canadian company, so you don’t have to worry about paying duty. The card that came in the package reminded me that my Blabla doll was hand knit by women in Peru that are” paid fairly for their work and treated with respect”.  Also it is “made with natural fibers, 100% exceptional quality very soft cotton”.  And with every purchase Giving Gifts makes a donation to help build the new Abetavu children’s village in Uganda.

Lee Lee Plum retails for $36.  Would I have bought her if I didn’t win her?  To be honest, probably not.  But now, having touched the doll and seen her in person, I would definitely consider purchasing another Blabla doll as a gift.  I can't get over how soft, squishy, yet sturdy the doll is and  I love the unique shapes.

The bird shaped handknit baby rattles in the Blabla line also look adorable.  I’m seriously considering picking one up for Baby-G.

I will definitely be checking Giving Gifts out when choosing my Christmas gifts this year. I made sure to sign up for their email newsletter, which promises subscriber only coupons and sales info.

Where to find it?
Blabla Dolls are available in Canada through www.givinggifts.ca.  Prices range from $21 for 6" rattle a to $46 for a 22" long-legged doll.