Contemporary Art Museum Montreal

One of the things that got me excited about moving to Montreal was the lovely (and large) selection of museums. Unfortunately, we don't really have room in our budget to go on a visiting spree to all those lovely museums right now. Soooo, that makes me infinitely more grateful that some museums have evenings where you can come and check out their exhibits for free. It also helps to take the stress of going with young children who may or may not want to stay and see every.single.exhibit in one go - something that tends to be more of a pressure spot when entrance fees are high. 

Thankfully, our kids get pretty excited about going to museums and I thank my lucky stars for that. 

They also get pretty excited about riding the metro. So that's always half the adventure right there. 

Positive attitudes make a pretty big difference when you spend a hefty amount of time wandering the general vicinity just looking for where the entrance to the museum is. 

The kids were pretty impressed with this though, where they could look down and see people walking around the underground. 

After wandering around outside, we wandered around inside and finally asked for some directions (yet, only the 3rd person we asked actually knew where it was). 

Getting lost in the underground was fun though.

Since we got a little lost finding the museum we sat down and gave the kids a little snack before heading in.

No pictures allowed inside the museum. But we thoroughly enjoyed the exhibits at the Contemporary Art Museum. It wasn't as big as I was expecting (particularly after being at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts) but it was a perfect size for us to check out with the kiddos in the evening.

Atticus sat and watched this video that they had playing of this town in Italy where all these people lined up in a square for the honor of shaking an artist's hand. He literally jumped in excitement when he saw one of the ladies in line holding a Lidl bag! And he said "Mommy! That's from Lidl! We've been there, too!".

And Milayla took it upon herself to make sure that everyone understood that you were not to touch the artwork. When she would walk up to a piece of art to check it out she would wave her hand in the air and say "Don't touch" then turn to anyone around here and repeat herself. She found this blue gradient painting that looked like it had textures merely by the use of color and sat and looked at it for a good chunk of time before daring to venture onward.

And me, well, I just love watching my kids absorb that art and build up that appreciation for all different kinds. Just the other day Milayla made a remark that music is art, too and I smiled. We love music around here. And art.

After the museum we lucked out and got to see them setting of for this big light festival. The pictures don't really show much - sorry. But it was cool.

They had this one display where you could stand on this interactive board and open curtains on a building across the street, or project your face on to a big face shape on the wall. It was interesting.

Not too sure the kids knew what to think about that one.

And with that it was time to head back into the underground for our metro rides home. It was a great family outing. We have a few more museums on our list that the kids have been really been counting down to so there will certainly be more to come!

Motherhood Realized - A New Book for Deliberate Moms

I don't typically post things like this on our blog, seeing that it is intended more for family happenings and moments, but I kind of love this book.

As I hope is pretty evident, I love being a mom yet, unfortunately, finding supportive resources for moms that want to magnify their motherhood can be a daunting task. I've long been a reader of, and occasional writer for, The Power of Moms website and this is their second book that they have released.

I have the first AND I got to sneak preview this one and there are some gems of wisdom in there from moms who are giving motherhood everything they have.

While this book doesn't lean much towards the practical application of parenting ideas it definitely provides a sense of unity among deliberate moms as we learn to recognize that there will be hard days, but it is oh, so worth it. And there is comfort and strength in that wisdom.

So if you want to check it out, be sure to check out the Power of Moms website. Also, if you are interested in ordering the book, check out this link because you can get some extra gifts if you order before Saturday, March 29th at midnight (not sure what time zone that is for...), including a digital copy of their first book.

Whether you get the book or not, I hope you are able to enjoy some time on their website reading some of the lovely articles on there.

Birthday 2014 - Jason

I feel like this post would be more appropriately named if it were titled, 'How Many Ways You Can Botch a Birthday'. Because I certainly managed to do that in so many ways.

I am not a big fan of my birthday; a sentiment that I hope Jason or the kiddos never feel about their own birthday. So I work pretty darn hard to try to make Jason and the kids' birthdays a nice experience and that they fully realize just how much we love having them in this family. And when all that planning and working to make it a nice experience goes horribly awry I just feel plain awful about it. Thus it was with Jason's birthday. Right down to forgetting how old my own husband is turning (yep...I messed up his age...I'm an awesome wife...), forgetting to cook rice to go in the requested birthday dinner of bean and rice burritos, and having our Plan A outing fall through AND our Plan B outing. The day just oozed awesomeness, can you tell?

Things that did work out; the kids did a great job with the decorations.

The birthday boy quite enjoyed his new socks, and all the hugs and kisses, and the cards.

Atticus picked the card and decided that if we made Milayla the little baby then I could be the girl and then we would all be in the picture. I think he did a great job coloring it!

And, for the first time in my life, I made decent pancakes for breakfast. A fact that everyone was very happy about!

And the snowstorm that we were greeted with in the morning made for some fun in the snow in the afternoon.

Love this picture. Jason had just told the kids that he was going to get them with a snowball and they both looked at him at the same time, unsure of whether to trust the claim or not. 

The kids made a snow slide and stairs.

So while my birthday planning skills need some serious help, I am grateful for two little kidlets who just didn't care and were happy to celebrate with balloons and brownies. And a husband who did a decent job pretending not to care; though I think he's just happy that I didn't burn the brownies (like last year...). And that Milayla was an awesome kitchen helper and made sure that those brownies were loaded in chocolate chips. I kind of love when positive attitudes outweigh negative experiences and fun is still had by all; particularly when that was my hope all along - that we would enjoy celebrating Jason and his unique part in our family.

So here is to Jason getting to enjoy un-burnt brownies with tasty vanilla ice cream and getting to turn 31....again...

*sigh*

Happy Birthday Jason!

I'm grateful that you know how to laugh at things like this...enjoy your extra year!

So Many Thoughts - Peace

I've been struggling with some pretty awful, non-existent sleep lately.

Just as the busyness of the day settles down and my head hits the pillow my mind turns on full blast and reminds me of all the stressful things going on that I have worked so hard to rise above (and address, as needed) during the day so that I could be present for my children (and also so that I can handle the stressful things with a clear, level head because stressing out about stressful things never helps) because, despite the stressful stuff, I still want to do my best to excel as a mother.

Sleep deprivation is not something that I enjoy. Though, I don't think anyone is likely to enjoy that. And I could feel anxiety creeping consistently closer and closer.

And then I found this:

(would love to know the artist, if anyone should know it!)

And I loved it.

There wasn't some big epiphany of some great solution to help me tread through stressful times (and get some more sleep!), but there was a peace.

And peace is powerful.

It helps us better see the wisdom of what things matter and what things don't. And it empowers us to meet stressful times head on and then rise above them or deal with them (whichever is needed).

Peace is beautiful.

And perhaps the most beautiful thing about peace is that it allows us to absorb all the goodness that surrounds us even when the waters of life aren't as calm as we would like. Because the source of that beloved peace is ever mindful of our lives, and our future.

Be still, my soul: Thy God doth undertake

To guide the future as he has the past.

Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;

All now mysterious shall be bright at last.

Be still, my soul: The waves and winds still know

His voice who ruled them while he dwelt below.

--Katharina von Schlegel

February 2014

Oh, February. What a mixed ride it was. We had a lot of lovely moments. We also had some moments I would like to not repeat. Like choking during dinner time and having to head off in an ambulance to the hospital - then getting to try to cover up all the popped blood vessels on my face and neck (from choking) for the next week. Not to mention the worry on the kids faces when they realized that something was very much wrong. It took them a good week afterwards for the kids (and Jason) to not cautiously watch me when I ate to make sure I was still eating. Not fun. I'm just glad it was me that it happened to and not one of the kiddos. 

And then there was waking up to the sound of our water heater spraying water onto our laundry/storage room, and getting to take a cold shower while we waited for the new one to go in (which was thankfully very quickly arranged). 

And then there was our car deciding that it would get sick at the end of the month and need some hefty repairs (which we are still working on...).

Oh, and having to say goodbye to a dear friend who moved off to Alberta. So grateful our paths crossed again, here in Montreal, for as long as they did.

But then there were good moments. Like swim lessons, valentine prep,  We Love to Be a Family Day, time with friends and museum trips. 

And then there were all these in between moments that are the moments that probably put the biggest smile on my face. They remind me that life is good. Life is blessed. Life is purposeful. And life is full of love. And that is something most definitely to smile about. 

So without further ado, here are some of those sweet, in between, moments that sweeten up the core of my life with so much goodness. 

Milayla is still going at those fingers. And this picture took me right back to that bright, blue eyed baby stage.  (check out here, here, and here to see what I am talking about). 

Night time prayers pretty much melt my heart around here. Atticus has taken to being Milayla's prayer helper and it is the sweetest thing to listen to.

Our fish. Who practices her kicking any time that she goes in the bath. All the practice has payed off, too. She is a pretty strong kicker at the pool now!

These gorgeous tulips that Carol brought over to me as soon as she heard about my lovely choking trip to the hospital. She is so sweet and thoughtful. We sure miss her around here!! And she picked perfectly. My heart has been aching for those dutch tulips, especially since we just hit another drop in temperature.

These kids set up their own "nap time" on the play room floor. Probably not the most comfortable place, but they sure love it. And it's not like they actually nap there.

And when they have their energy back they are up dancing, making up routines which primarily consist of turning and jumping, but it is sweet none the less.

And Milayla has blossomed as an avid builder and puzzle maker. She's mastered our puzzles. And builds robots out of lego. And castles out of wooden blocks. She gets in her own little world and works until her vision is complete.

Meanwhile, Atticus has been working up patterns like crazy with his mosaic tiles. He is getting so quick at getting the patterns together.

Carol obliged the kids and read them a chapter of the book that we were working on in February (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory). It's funny; as an adult I am a little surprised at how blunt some of the words are in there, particularly from those oompa loompas. We did have to sensor it out a bit to allow for the fact that both kids are really under the intended age group for the book.

After Atticus came up with this for his very first letter that he sounded out all on his own, I knew I needed to spend a little bit more time with him on sounding out words from his head. BUT, it is still a very sweet letter about how he is going to play nice with milayla and share duplo when she wants to play with them. Sweetness. And so much thoughtfulness.

And from there it was on to writing his own emails!!! No joking. Once this kid got the hang of things there was no stopping him. He wrote a few family members to let them know about his growing skills.

Ironically, we took a class to get updated in our CPR certification just a few days after my choking incident. We found a great place that allowed us to bring the kids so that Jason and I could both get it done. We had a lovely instructor, and after the kids finished their picnic dinner they got to practice cpr techniques on the special baby mannequins that the instructor had. While they aren't quite ready for the real deal, I am really glad that they were there to see Jason and I learning an important skill and that they had their own little intro to it all as well.

These two are typically pretty good at working together to reach a goal of their finished product. That is always nice. 

Some of our projects during the month.

Atticus' spelling practice.

And these boys are all smiles about our 'new fruit' trial. Jason has been a big instigator to get us all to branch out in what kinds of fruits we eat.

This is dragon fruit. I tried it and found it tasted like a less sweet version of kiwi. I wasn't too crazy for it, nor Milayla. But the boys loved it.

And now we are well into March. And I am grateful that, just as February was, it is filled with much goodness and sweetness.