Friday Photo Post

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and I couldn't agree more.  So for this post, I'm going to let the photos speak for themselves.  This will be a new tradition that I'll be starting on the Blog.  On Fridays you can start looking out for a post with mostly pictures, and occasionally some descriptions.  It shall be named "Friday photo post". How original, don't ya think?  Hope you enjoy these.

Have a super weekend.  Take some pictures!

Storm & Calm

I have a confession.  I have totally been slacking lately, quite obvious due to the lack of posts of late.  There has been a sense of calm surrounding the house, and admittedly I've been taking advantage of it.  Though, there was a storm before the calm.  I'm not a sailor, nor have I studied meteorology, however in my simple observance, I have noticed calms after storms.  But...I'm gonna go ahead and mix up the expression, because sometimes you just gotta go against the flow.

The storm before the calm, was most definitely last weekend, when we did the whole "let them cry it out" thing with the twins.  As a dear lovely friend kindly pointed out I had yet to have 8 hours of consecutive sleep since the girls had been born, and this was a problem.  See, the whole reason we got together, was due to my emotional state at the time; meaning I was a complete wreck.  I recall having a meltdown earlier in the week, simply because Dale asked me why I bought a watermelon. Yah, I was a little tired.  

Dale had been asking me for months to do the "cry it out" deed.  I flat out didn't want to.  I convinced myself they needed me, there was a reason they were waking up, something disturbing their little bodies causing them to wake up.  So I would nurse them and stick them back in their crib. Trouble is, this is times two of course, and for 10 months I had on average 5-6 hours of sleep a night, but broken into two hour intervals.  For someone who is a sleeper like myself, broken sleep is just not the same.  Yah, mama was a little spacey.    The first night was the toughest. Thankfully Levi was at my parents, so I was able to separate them into two rooms.  I put them to bed, then they started crying about 3 hours after that.  I went in, checked, picked up, then she stopped crying.  I knew nothing was wrong and put her back down.  Repeat for twin two.   If I was going to put them through it, I needed to rough it out with them, so we stayed up, until they fell asleep.  This resulted in 5 hours of consecutive sleep.  Yahoo. New woman in the morning.  We started the deed Friday night, and by Sunday night they were sleeping 9 hours.  I am so grateful to my dear friend who encouraged me to "man up" per say and get it done.  My only regret with this whole process is not listening to my husband, and doing it sooner.
***Insert disclaimer here.  Every baby is different and you need to do what your mama gut tells you to.

With a little more sleep under my belt, I've been enjoying the calm of this past week.  Play dates with friends, dinner dates, hot dates with my man, and fun dates at the park.

We savoured the taste of warm weather on Friday leaving us with a taste for more.  Solution for four kids in the house.  Outside.  That's what we did when I was a kid....couldn't come back in except for pee breaks and lunch.

I love the summer previews in spring.  The warm sunny days mixed amongst the cool overcast days.   They give us hope for the warm weeks of summer to come, filled with trips to the beach, basking in the hot hot sun, sand in the toes, melting banana popsicles in hand and warm grass under feet.
 

We've had a myriad of butterflies gracing us with their presence in our backyard lately.  Butterfly conservatory, pffftt! Sista's got one over here in the backyard, free admission, and unlimited hours.

You gotta love those sweet moments, the ones that make your heart sing and your lips smile.  Keep these in your backpocket, you never know when you'll need them.

I've been letting the sewing table take a break, spending time with Great Grandparents and my sweet man.  These times are precious and priceless but there is a balance to maintain, so this week I have lofty plans to get a few projects done.  Look out for the new products by the end of the week.

Tell me, what have you been spending your time on lately?

Great Grandma with the girls

Finally got a chance to get all the kiddos with Great Grandma!

Old and New

I adore when Dale has a day off. Gives us time to spend as a family, regroup, relax, reconnect and sometimes cram in a project, though the latter rarely happens.  I try to think of it as a day off for myself too and let things slide around the house a little more than normal, letting some toys scatter and dishes pile up.  Dale's day off landed on tuesday, so we made a long overdue visit to Dale's grandparents in Bolton.  The whole affair was about a three hour journey, but oh so worth it to see their smiling faces.

Time has taken it's tole on them, wrinkled their once smooth faces, faded their once sharp memories and weathered their once nimble and lively bodies.  Quite the opposite of the young sprites that we brought with us.  Yet, the gathering of the old and the new is a great reminder of this circle of life. They were once our age, with five beaming children running around the house.  There was laundry, cleaning, diapers, dishes, stress, some sleep and repeat.  Here they are, 80+ years in this world, having seen & experienced all that they have, and still ever grateful for the fresh reminder of newness of life.

At one point, she looked at me, her piercing blue eyes looking into mine.
"They sure do keep you young don't they" she said.
"Yes they sure do" I respond.
"Maybe, this is what I need, to pull me out of this sickness, the young ones keeping me going" she answers back, holding on with her hand while Levi pulls the other hand, urging her to come along.

By sickness, I think she meant the sickness of being old; weary bones and growing tired.  Or perhaps there is more that she doesn't want to share.

We sipped juice, and caught up, as much as we could, whilst wrangling children back from the stairs, and away from the ornaments and statues on the coffee table. When it was time to pack up the kids, they didn't want us to leave.  She showed us out to the car, carefully making her way down the concrete front steps.  When we were done snapping in car seats and fastening seat belts, she took me by the arm, grasping it with her frail hand and said: "Love each other"
I automatically respond " yes, of course, we will"
Dale comes around the corner, and still holding on to my arm, and reaching for his she says again: "Love each other" her eyes piercing deeper into mine, nodding her head.  As if the first time she knew that I would just instinctively respond with a "yes", and that it needed repeating, so that I could really take in the seriousness of her request.  No need for the third time to do the charm, I had it at the second.  In all her years she knew it came down to that, just love each other.  Simple words of wisdom.

On the way home we stopped at one of those ole fashioned burger joints, the kind with fresh greasy fries, melt in your mouth hamburger and over watered fountain pop.  I love the entertainment at these types of places.  There is always the news on the T.V paired with easy rock playing in the background, old couples sipping on coffee in those old cream colored china mugs, and someone in the corner reading a newspaper.  Now that I type this, it doesn't sound that entertaining, but because of my love for people watching, it was for me at the time.  

It was relatively quiet when we came in, besides the hum of the t.v, there wasn't much excitement going on.  And cue Chapman family of five entering the scene.  The old couple look away from the t.v, weathered china cup in hand and the man in the corner wearing his slippers, folds down the corner of his paper to see the tornado that just blew in to the restaurant.  This is the way I feel when we enter a lot of places, entering as a hurling whirlwind with babies on hips, toddler in tow, and the sweet smell of pampers encircling us.  It tends to catch a bit of attention sometimes.  Though I love being entertained by watching those around me, I'm beginning to think that they had quite the show from us too.  After feasting on their famous "Tower Burger" and a shawarma, we blew that Popsicle stand, and packed up for home.  It's great to be able to chat in the car. I like to think of these times as car dates.

And when the day couldn't have gotten any better, I took an  hour for myself to check out a new fabric shop downtown that my neighbor had told me about.

Oh be still my heart, there are so many beautiful fabrics and patterns to choose from, I most certainly need another visit to take it all in.

The store carries a variety of sewing machines and notions, as well as a plethora of inspiration in every direction that you look.  I have to say that I was truly impressed with the service.  I showed up just a little over 20 mins before closing and the owner was more than happy to chat it up, and show me around the store and wasn't in a rush to sweep up, and close shop.

They have great sewing classes available, that I'm sure to take advantage of one day and hone my sewing skills.  Their cute shop is located downtown at 45 Dunlop St. East. Check out their website here.  Be sure to give them a visit when you are looking for something to do on the weekend, or when you have the next project brewing. When you go, ask about their re-usable bag program.  I purchased one for $5 and received 15% off my entire purchase and subsequent purchases. Can't wait to visit again, and bring mom for a visit.  She'll be in fabric heaven!