Speed of Light

The title of this post today sums up how life feels right now.  It is humming along at a speed that I can barely keep up with.  I realize, looking back at past years at this time of year, that it is a notoriously busy time of year.  Things are wrapping up, school, activities, commitments and plans are busily being made for the summer months that lie ahead.

Rangoli Rave 2015

Whistler May Long

Elizabeth's 6th Birthday

I am trying more and more each day to embrace the craziness of this time, realizing that in the busyness I can miss those precious moments that come and go so quickly.

Yesterday afternoon Sydney had dance class after school.  I arrived at 4:00 to pick her up after working a full day with Paul at his office.  It was a beautiful, sunny day and Sydney wanted to stay in the school playground for a while to play so I found a comfy spot in the sun and watched her do the monkey bars like an expert for well over an hour.

In that time I had a wander through the school garden, a wonderful chat with the gardener and Sydney's teachers.  I connected with them in a way that I hadn't before simply because I had taken the time to slow down and let Sydney stay to play instead of hustling her off home, on to the next thing.

When we finally arrived home I realized that I was never going to make my 6:00 gym time so I called an cancelled and after a quick dinner Syd, Paul and I packed up and headed to Jericho Beach to watch the sun set while Sydney collected shells and barnacles and sea glass.  It was one of the most precious times that I can remember us spending as a family in recent memory.  I loved every second.

And yet, I struggle because I love to be busy.  I get such a rush looking at my daytimer and seeing days bustling with activity, from one thing to the next.  But the most magical moments with Sydney, they happen when we aren't doing something scheduled, they happen when I just let time unfold as it may.

It's a lesson that I'm just now starting to learn and I feel may change the rhythm of our lives if I can somehow embrace it.  We'll see...

Mother's Day

Today was Mother's Day, my sixth since becoming a Mom when Sydney was born in 2009.  I love Mother's Day so much, far and away because the most magical of all the days of my life was the day that I became a Mom.  Sydney's presence in my life makes everything in my world better. 

I have treasured every Mother's Day with Sydney since she's been born.  Each one has been different with the overall tradition of spending the day together doing something out of the ordinary.  Today was no exception.  I have been diligently working on my list of '40 Things to Accomplish in my 40th Year' and one of the goals that I have is to run a 10K race.  In keeping with the training that I have been doing towards this, I signed up to do the 5K Fairmont Mother's Day Run this morning.

It was so exciting heading down to Stanley Park with Paul and Syd bright and early this morning to a sea of yellow shirts waiting to start the race.  I met up with my friend and Sunday morning running partner Angela, along with my beloved friends Sally, Allan and Ollie and we ran together chatting all the while.

Sydney made me the cutest poster that read "Go Mommy Go" decorated in her own special way and it was such a delight to see her and Paul waiting at the finish line for me cheering me on!

What a wonderful way to start my day, a beautiful run through an amazing part of our city with great friends and my two favourite people in the world waiting for me at the end of it all!

I love that Syd wanted to wear my bib at the end of the race and wore her running clothes as well in full support of me!  

Sydney has been diligently working on a special Mother's Day gift for me at school all this past week.  This morning I finally got to open it after days and days of hearing about this precious surprise.

It was such a lovely gift, a frame that Sydney had custom painted with a picture of her holding a chalkboard that read:  "I Love my Mommy because she takes care of me" in her own handwriting!

And then there was the card, so beautifully painted but the message that she wrote to me inside brought tears to my eyes:

Dear Mommy,

Happy Mother's Day

I hope you have a good time doing the Mother's Day run with Susan, you, Angela and Sally!  You will reach in to the bag of surprises.  I hope you have a good time doing the Mother's Day run.  Me and Daddy will cheer you on at the finish line.  Have a good Mother's Day.  I love you so much, you are my best friend.  Me and Daddy love you.

Love, 

Sydney

My sweet girl, I am blessed beyond measure! 

We took some time today as well to visit Paul's Mom at her graveside as this is the first Mother's Day without her.  She loved lilacs so much and we always made a point of bringing her a bouquet every Mother's Day in the past and today was no exception.  It was lovely to remember her in this way and for Sydney to see her graveside for the first time. 

It was a lovely day, I truly am so blessed!

Playing Hookey

Since Sydney started Kindergarten way back in early September, we have missed only one day of school, a planned absence for Rosh Hashanah.  Sydney has had a stellar year health-wise, not even missing a single day due to illness, I am so grateful!

This time of year is so busy and I was sensing lately that Sydney was just needing some really focused time with Mom so I cleared a day for us to play hookey together.  We chatted about how we might like to spend this precious day together and she ultimately decided that she wanted to head to the states together to go shopping.

Oh the best laid plans...we were getting ourselves ready to go last night running a few errands when my car mysteriously started overheating and the heater quit working all together.  Something was clearly wrong and it became evident quickly that a road trip was out of the question for today.

So I gave Sydney the option of heading to school this morning but she decided that she'd rather still spend the day with me so we spent a precious day together.

We had a long soak in a bubble bath, followed by a snuggle on the couch to watch one of her favourite shows, 19 Kids and Counting, together. 

Then we strolled around our neighborhood and collected a beautiful bouquet of flowers.

When she was ready to head out for the day, we drove to Jericho Beach where she had the best time beach combing, this time collecting shells and rocks covered in barnacles instead of the usual sea glass!

We headed straight from the beach to Whitespot for lunch, Menchies for dessert and then to Sydney's cousin Avior's house for a visit followed by side by side pedicures at Pure Nail Bar.

The evening continued in a special time together as we made dinner side by side in the kitchen and then played in the garden and backyard all the while enjoying each other's company.


It was a precious day and left me wondering why I hadn't done this sooner!

Enjoying our Garden

Here we are, five days into May and I can already taste summer a little.  The days are getting warmer and longer and I'm longing for a little downtime in our backyard soaking up the sun. 

Sydney and I had a fun time this past weekend getting all of our planting done in the garden.  We were up with the birds at 6:30am on Sunday morning and out the door immediately to the Stongs garden sale which happens every year on the first Sunday of May. 

We had the best time wandering up and down the aisles looking at all of the plants and I let Syd choose whatever she wanted for her vegetable, herb and flower gardens.

We gathered everything we needed and spent the morning planting.

I absolutely love her new veggie container garden planted in a Veg Trug from Lee Valley.  Sydney planted fennel, kale, broccoli, Swiss chard, green lettuce, red lettuce, red bell pepper and spinach.

Here's her sweet herb garden.

And her flowers, pansies and marigolds in bright yellow containers.

We also planted a cherry tomato plant that we got in our takeaway bag from Weston and Gwen's party and a strawberry plant.

We got our geraniums in this weekend too, love how bright and cheerful they make our backyard look.

And speaking of cheerful, nothing makes me happier than to see how amazing my lilac bush looks this year!  It is bigger and with more blooms than ever before!

I couldn't resist cutting myself a bouquet for my kitchen to enjoy.

We are truly enjoying our garden this year and looking forward to many long summer days enjoying all that we've planted.

A Week in April

My days have been filled with making lots of plans lately, a weekend getaway to Whistler, a summer trip to Suncadia, getaway with Grandma and Auntie and planning my 'runcation' in September to mark my 40th birthday.  It feels good to flip through the pages of my daytimer and feel excited about things to come. 

I spent my morning today meeting with an interior designer that my friend Erin recommended to me.  She was such a lovely lady and I really felt that she is exactly what I need to get me motivated to get cracking on some home improvement projects that are long overdue.  I'm feeling hopeful about the prospect of getting some things done over the next few months.

We had a full and busy week this past week.  Sydney and I continue to enjoy watching everything come into bloom in our own garden and all around us.

This amazing tree bloomed in our backyard this past week, it is in it's full glory right now:

And of course the lilacs, a full three weeks ahead of schedule are out in full bloom:

Love, love them. I have had a bouquet in my kitchen for days and never grow tired of the most amazing, fragrant smell!

This past Friday I had the pleasure of hosting a birthday dinner for my dear friend Sally with our precious group of Dunbar Moms.  We decided on a Mexican theme as Sally loves Mexican food.  My friend Erin dropped a box of fun Mexican items off to me and I had such fun decorating and making a lovely Mexican feast!

The girls loved the meal and stayed until the wee hours of the night laughing and visiting.  I loved every minute of it and it left me thinking that I really should host more of these events, such fun times!

The very next morning we had the pleasure of celebrating Ollie's 5th birthday at Science World.  What a fun party!  The kids got to see live bugs and learn all about them and then launch bottle rockets off before enjoying lunch and cake.

We have been busy going through the contents of Paul's Mom's house before it goes on the market later this week.  This weekend we brought over her beautiful sideboard which now graces our front foyer.

It is a wonderful addition to our home and we love it!

It is hard to believe that April is almost behind us and that in six short weeks Sydney will be finished Kindergarten.  Time is definitely moving faster than it ever has before and I'm working harder and harder at trying to hold onto and savour every last minute with my sweet girl as she grows up before my eyes!

A Home for our Teacups

As you may have guessed from reading many of our past posts, Sydney and I love having tea parties more than anything.  We often have friends over for a special high tea time and will even sneak in a few special times around tea on our own. 

When Paul's Mom passed away several months ago one of the things that Sydney inherited from her was her beautiful collection of teacups, many of which are well over seventy years old!

We were so excited to have these new treasures and carefully stored them individually wrapped in paper towels in a box in our storage room waiting for a special occasion when we could use them.

This past weekend we brought home another very special item from Bubbie's home, her china cabinet and now we have a beautiful new home for her teacups to be displayed along with a set of teacups that are the exact pattern that my Grandmother had.  I love that they are housed together, a china cabinet filled with memories for both of us!

I absolutely love it!  Sydney was so excited to see everything all neatly put away and to have the teacups on display at long last instead of tucked away in storage.

I feel some tea parties coming on in our future!

Back in Business

With sincere apologies for my radio silence for the last month, I am happy to announce that we are back in business with updating this blog and you can hope to see some more frequent updates in the days and weeks to come.

It has been such a great spring, the early bloom in Vancouver this year and string of bright, sunny days has been so uplifting.  We have had so many wonderful memories together with Sydney in the past month, here's a few of the highlights.

Easter Weekend

In keeping with our yearly tradition we did a photo shoot in the garden on Good Friday.  Sydney was only too excited to get dressed into one of her new spring dresses and enjoy the flowers while I happily snapped away.  I love that this has become a tradition and am amazed at how much she's changed and grown year over year.

We did our annual egg hunt with our Dunbar friends on Good Friday as well, the kids had a blast ripping around Dunbar Park searching for eggs and stuffing their baskets to the brim!

We started a new tradition this Good Friday as well by visiting Southlands Farm for their annual sheep shearing.  What fun we had watching the event and making Sydney her first ever roast marshmallow at the bonfire there!

Passover

Good Friday also marked the start of Passover this year.  We so enjoyed Seders with Paul's nephew Danny and his wife Heidi who are always such gracious hosts.  It was a special time of being together with family and friends.  Sydney enjoyed helping me make yet another gorgeous fruit platter for the dinners this year.

Visit from Grandma

We have just enjoyed the most wonderful week of having my Mom here to visit us.  She and I spent some precious time together one on one while Sydney was at school during the day, had a lovely lunch together at Seasons in the Park, spent the day at the Absolute Spa getting our nails done and enjoyed many coffees and chats together.  It was precious time!

Grandparents Day

While my Mom was here she had the pleasure of joining Sydney at school for the day for Grandparents Day.  Sydney was thrilled to show Grandma around her school, garden and playground and they enjoyed some special time together!

Melanie's Wedding

My Mom also had the pleasure of joining us in celebrating my cousin Melanie's wedding at the top of the Sea to Sky Gondola in Squamish while she was here.  What a fabulous day it was sharing this long awaited celebration together! 

My Auntie Trish made a beautiful wedding cake for the occasion.

William's Birthday

Sydney and I so enjoyed celebrating her friend William's 5th birthday with the most fabulous truck and car themed birthday party!

William's Mom, my friend Michelle, made the most incredible cake for the day, it was amazing!

Coconut Wally Bear

It is hard to believe that Sydney is in her last couple of month of Kindergarten.  I am savouring each and everyday with her at her precious little school as we prepare to say goodbye shortly.

Sydney got to take home the class "pet," Coconut Wally Bear, for a couple of days and document her travels with him. 

We had fun taking him along on errands and showing him around our house!

It has been a wonderful few weeks filled with many special times, we are blessed!