I played Solitaire the other day…with real cards! So many happy memories of playing with my grandfather as a kid. 
Tag Archives: memories
Our Christmas Memories
This year, my kids were with me for Christmas Eve and most of Christmas day. It was lovely waking up with them and seeing the gleam in their eyes when they saw all the presents under the tree. My daughter wanted the “job” of handing out presents to everyone, which she did enthusiastically. She also volunteered to “help” everyone open their presents, whether we wanted her to or not…but that’s all part of the excitement of being a kid at Christmas!
My son wasn’t interested in the presents. He was more interested in his iPad so, note to future self: hide his iPad the night before Christmas so he can enjoy opening his presents, then he can have his iPad. Poor little guy started getting sick later that day so he hasn’t played with or used many of his presents but they are waiting for him when he gets back to his usual self.
My favourite part of Christmas this year though was when my stepdaughter came to visit. She gave my daughter a big doll house (her mom even had to drive her rather than her taking the bus to get here because it’s so big!). It was wonderful listening to them work together at setting it up. Then the two girls went outside to play in the snow, throwing snowballs, and building a snowman and fort. They even “tricked” me by calling me outside. Thankfully, my stepdaughter suggested I wear my winter coat when I came outside. As it turned out, my girls had made some snowballs to throw at me and, when my back was turned, they threw a shovel-full on me…witnessed (and laughed at) by one of my neighbours too.
Christmastime is all about family memories.
30 Days of Me: Day 14 – Earliest Memory
Day 14 – Your earliest memory
Hmmm…this is a tough one. I can’t really pin point an “earliest” memory at the moment, but thinking about it brought one memory in particular to the front of my brain.
I remember when my little brother and I were piling wood and he started reciting the movie Forrest Gump. He started in at “Life is like a box of chocolates”, and finished an hour later. At one point, he even realized he had missed a scene so he said “Stop, rewind”, recited missing scene then “Stop, fast forward” and continued on from where he left off. Amazing memory skills!
What’s your earliest memory, or a memory from your childhood?
Walt Disney World Excitement For…
My kids were counting down the time all morning until we went. When I told them it was finally time to go, they both ran out to our “sexy” mini van and strapped into carseats like pros. They were asking “are we there yet?” with so much glee in their voices, I chuckled while giving them a play by play of how to get there; how much longer the 4 mins drive would take.
You would have thought that we were going to Walt Disney World or some other trip of a lifetime but we weren’t. I had finally received a bill in my name at our new address, so we were finally able to … get a library card! I even got each of them their own library cards for their birthday tomorrow…shh, don’t tell them. 
So, we piled into the car and drove over to the library, where they ran to the front door of the library, I reminded them that they needed to be on their best behaviour, they opened the door and started exploring. Being in a small town now, the main library is smaller than the main library in the city we just moved from but they were happy to see that the relatively large kids section was still filled with books, CDs and DVDs. We introduced ourselves to the librarians and staff, and my daughter told them how excited she was to be there, and then the rest of her and her brother’s life stories, including that they are twins.
Their father and I would take the kids to the farmer’s market and library almost every Saturday of their lives when they were younger, and participate in play groups at the library. As they got older, we weren’t going every week, but we would still go regularly. Even after we split, we both still take them to the library. The library is as important to their father as me…he used to own a bookstore.
I went to the library all the time as a kid, and made my way through the Nancy Drew series as fast as possible. It drove me crazy though when the next book in the series was already checked out because, for some reason, it never occurred to me that I could just skip it and read it when it came back in.
My grandfather who lived in England even had a library card at that library too. He came to visit for 3 weeks every year and would borrow books during his visit too. I have fond memories of coming home from school and he was sitting in “my” chair in the living room, reading a book, and smoking his pipe. To this day, the smell of a pipe reminds me of him, and I smile.
I hope that my kids have fond memories of the library when they grow up, and that they will instill the same love of reading the library in their kids.
“No Mosquitoes in my Underwear”, and Other Quotes
My 5yo daughter is the most quotable child I’ve ever met, so I thought I would share some on this rainy Hump Day…
- “Mommy, there are no mosquitos in my underwear” – to top it off, she was sad about this!
- While holding up a piece of pepperoni… DD: “This is yummy, it reminds me of something I like”. Me: “Pepperoni?”. DD “No mom. I don’t like pepperoni.” Oh, okay…
- “God is two years old. She had her birthday yesterday.” Good to know.
- “Jesus and Yoda are both spirits. They are very powerful and nice.” In case you were wondering.
- “I’m the princess of this family.” Hmm, as her mother, does that make me Queen, or Ruler of the World?
- “God is a girl, and Spirit is Her boyfriend.” Good to know.
- “Boys have hair all over their bodies. Girls don’t. We have pretty skin.” The closest you’ll get to sex-ed from a 5yo I guess.
- “Do Bad Guys like carrots and hummus?” Anyone know?
- “I only want to eat 10 french fries so I don’t fill up my dessert stomach.” She has her priorities straight thankfully!
- “It’s not funny when people are naked…even birds”. Ummm…okay…
The best one that makes my heart melt though:
“Mommy, do you know what I hate about you? NOTHING!”
Special Sunday with Daughter
DD and I went to my parents’ farm for our “Special Sunday” (where the ex and I split up the twins so we have one-on-one time with each) and had our first overnight there, just the two of us. When I suggested an overnight stay to DD, I didn’t think she would be receptive because DS wouldn’t be there with us but she was very excited about sleeping in the “pink room” (Guess what colour the walls are in that spare room?).
When we got there, Grampa and Noni were building a room and DD was right in there helping out. Soon DD was decked out in a yellow hard hat and a gardening belt to hold screws in, and was being Grampa’s helper, handing him screws whenever he needed them. She would help Noni bring in more wood as needed for construction. All around, a GREAT helper!
After about two hours of that (what kid has that kind of attention span?!), she started getting bored so she and I went for a walk along the path at the back of the farm. We were checking out all the flowers, birds and nature along the path. At one point, DD threw her hands in the air and declared “Nature is sssoooo beautiful!”.
That night, as I was putting her to bed, it dawned on me that she was literally sleeping in my childhood bed. My heart became overwhelmed. The bedding was even the same summer sheets I had growing up! Only my mother can keep sheets for 20 years and they still look new…it’s a skill, I tell you!
Before DD went to bed, she told Grampa, Noni and I that she had “to do homework for Grade 1 as soon as I wake up”. Umm…you’re in SK and it’s May, but okay. We put a pad of paper and pencil in the pink room for her and, first thing in the morning, she came into the room I was sleeping in and told me that she didn’t have a pen (one of the cats had used it as a toy overnight) so I went searching for a pen at 6am, and she spent the next half hour in the pink room, at the desk, doing her “homework”. It was full of numbers and math signs! How awesome is that?!!
There were so many moments during our trip to my parents’ where I was just amazed at how grown up my 5yo DD is, and I’m so thankful to be able to get to know her more each and every time we have a special day together.
