Closing to an Opening

Our house now officially belongs to someone else. Our house closed today and although we'll still get 3 months to enjoy it (we've arranged to rent it from the new owner until our new place closes), there is a part of me that is sad to see my little house move on to someone new.

Our builder is making great strides with our new place. We are excited to see the progress being made. Every week we take a trip to the site to see how much they have done and we get another jolt of adrenaline and excitement :) I can't wait to host our first party !! 

It'll be the start of a new era. Our Weavers Mill era. The era that begins with a house that Geoff and I chose together. It's not him moving into my place or vice versa, it's a home that we have chosen together, as partners. That's a pretty cool feeling. We can make it "ours". That will be the fun part- especially since its a new build and nobody else has ever lived in it before.

Date Night + 1

 This week Geoff had his week of vacation. We spent the majority of the week getting stuff done around the house. We did all of the usual things that a domesticated family does. Costco. Groceries. Cleaning. *YAWN* (except Costco-that place excites me!)

So, we opted to take a night and wander over to the Niagara region for the night. We spent the most beautiful October afternoon I think we've ever had (it was 20 degrees and sunny) in Niagara-on-the-Lake. It was Grayson's first trip to the Niagara region (except when he was fetus).

 We sauntered through the stores that line the main drag of NOTL, sipping Starbucks and enjoying homemade date squares and macademia nut cookies.

We then made our way along the stunning Niagara parkway, following the meandering waterway, towards Niagara Falls. The leaves were all golden, red and orange. Stunning colours. The sun was radiating through the trees and made them all that more colourful.

Once in Niagara Falls, we took to the sidewalks and took in the cheesy, tacky sights that Niagara Falls has to offer. The stores that sell the el-cheapo tourist t-shirts and snow globes.

We stayed in the Hilton hotel, which is a place we have stayed before and LOVED. It's directly across from the U.S side of the falls and we had a room on the 23rd floor so we had amazing views.

Grayson sat, wide-eyed, in his stroller. He was in awe of the giant statues of crazy creatures and the noises coming from the fun houses and haunted mansions.

After our walk, we headed to the Brasa Brazilian Steakhouse, which was in our hotel. It's an all-you-can-eat meat fest. It's delicious. Scrumptious. Mouth-watering. Whatever word you choose to describe it. We ate until we were stuffed. We had pork, lamb, grilled pineapple with brown sugar and cinnamon, salmon, chicken, chicken wrapped in bacon, ribs, etc etc. Oh it was amazing. 

 Feeling guilty about our gluttonous meal, we headed across the walkway to the stores in the same building as the casino. Of course getting into the casino with a 4 month old would a) be just plain wrong and b) impossible with security, but we enjoyed the shops and candy stores.

We slept wonderfully that night, full and filled up with meats and sweets. We fell asleep to the changing colours of the falls.

Friday morning we woke bright and early to make our way to the Henley rowing club to watch my littlest brother row in the provincial finals. My father, stepmother, Tucker (my parents dog), Geoff, Grayson and I watched in the increasingly cold weather. Our nice warm temperatures slowly slipped away and the true feel of fall arrived. That was our cue. After Drew's race, we packed up and headed home. Layered in our warm fall clothing and ready for our weekend :)

17 weeks (4 months)

Our little guy is just about 4 months old. For those of you who count in weeks, he's 17 weeks. Just changes I have seen in my little love bug. He is now rolling around, cooing and smiling at everyone and everything. He is in love with his big sister. His face lights up when he sees her.

He remains my chilled little guy who doesn't get too worked up about anything. His favourite hobby is grabbing his toes and trying to shove them in his mouth. He is on the verge of a full tilt belly laugh.

Our children are my sunshine. They are my everything. They bring me so much joy. We love watching every little change in our kids as they grow older. They are figuring out this world around them and I love it. Love every second of it.

I love you Grayson and Mira. You are my life. I love sharing my life with you and including you in the things that I love and I look forward to supporting you as you find the things that you love.

Thanksgiving Thanks

Thanksgiving weekend is here again. I love this weekend every year. It offers the best combination ever. Fantastic food, wonderful fall weather and scenery and my daughter's birthday.

 My precious first born Mira. My sensitive beautiful little soul. She thrives on the beauty in the little things that I tend to take for granted every day. She sees the beauty in everything.

She is a caring girl who offers me hugs when she somehow senses that I need it most. She is intuitive and to me, she seems to have this way about her that tells me she is wise beyond her years. For those who believe in reincarnation, she is an old soul.

Everyday she makes me proud. Every single morning she lights up my day with her smile and crazy morning hair.

Her humour is outstanding. Her perspective on things is entertaining and often times makes me stop and say "hmmm.Never thought of it that way". Pretty awesome from a 6 year old.

This year we celebrated by taking 13 kids and their parents to Lil Monkeys indoor play gym. The kids could run off all the of pent up energy while the adults sipped on free coffee and lounged in big comfy leather chairs and couches. It was fantastic.

After the party, we turned around to race home and prepare our turkey dinner. We shared the night with our much loved friends and family. Geoff's Thanksgiving turkey turned out just as great as last year's turkey. We enjoyed ham, squash, veggies....and of course pie :) What a great night. Love love love Thanksgiving.
It was also the last Thanksgiving in our little house.

Good progress is being made in our new place. Windows and doors are installed and shingles are being applied. Love seeing the creation of our new family home.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. I know that some of our family and friends are going through some really tough times right now. I am thinking of them and wishing them a happy thanksgiving.

The Highs and Lows

The month of September was filled with highs and lows for us and our families.

Grayson and his "sophie"

This month found 2 of our parents in the hospital. Both will thankfully be okay, but scary regardless. Geoff's mom underwent surgery and my father fell from a 20 foot ladder and fractured several of his vertebrae. Luckily, everyone is going to be okay and they are both on the mend. Both sound like they are going stir crazy, but hopefully they will be up and about sooner than later.

Geoff fought in his jiu jitsu tournament and lost, but he lost to the guy who won his entire age bracket. So, as much as that's a low that he lost, he did well overall. There is a lot to learn from when competing and it makes you take a new fresh look at your training to figure out where you need to improve. It's all the cycle of learning and training to do better the next time around. 

Despite the awful news about our parents, etc, we have had some real highs to celebrate. My grandparents celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary! They invited the whole family out for a nice dinner and we walked down memory lane with pictures from their entire lives both together and in marriage. It was wonderful seeing all of my aunts and uncles, cousins, etc.

As well, we sold our house very quickly. We had our house up on the market for 2 days. We had one showing and that one showing produced a terrific offer. No more having to show the house and keep it perfectly clean for those last minute realtor phone calls. It's fantastic.

Date night with sushi 

Amongst other things this weekend, we enjoyed some date nights and family times. It was a busy busy month of September and October is shaping up to be just as busy! 

We have Thanksgiving weekend where we are hosting Thanksgiving dinner. We have Mira's 6th birthday party, a visit from my friend Vicky and her son Lincoln (from PA), another jiu jitsu tournament for Geoff, and a wedding.

So much to do and so much to look forward to. :) I'll take the lows with the highs. It's a part of life and it keeps us on our toes. We never learn anything from things being easy and perfect all the time do we?

Starting New

Tomorrow our little house goes up on the market. It will officially be for sale.

As much as I'm excited about the prospect of getting our new place and having more space for our growing family, I'm sad. I'm sad to say goodbye to this little place. This place is special for both Geoff and I.

We have both seen this little townhouse as a fresh start. We both had fresh starts independent from one another. This townhouse has been good to us and it holds a lot of great memories.

When I was a newly single mom to Mira (she was just over a year old), I lived on my own in a rented apartment. My father urged me to buy a property to call my own and to start building my equity. As much as I was all for that, I was concerned about the costs of a home. I took a walk one afternoon with Sasha and I walked through the neighbourhood where I now live. I fell in love with it because of the established forests and the quiet streets (perfect for a small girl). I fell in love with the park and the feeling that my child could be safe and happy here.

I found a property that was for sale that backed right onto the park. It was just too good to be true when I found that the place was well within my budget (especially since it was the start of the recession). It was the perfect size for just Mira and I. I made an offer and *presto!* it was mine. It was my pride and joy. It was my first solo trip into home ownership. I had owned a couple of houses with my ex-husband, but there is something to be said about owning a house all on your own.

Eventually Geoff came into the picture and he was looking for a place to be happy and heal from his own past. It became what he calls "his sanctuary". It's where we first learned about one another and grew close together. It's where we dealt with sorrow with the loss of Dudley and Sasha. It's where we have celebrated our first Christmases together. We held our first Boxing Day party (10th annual). It's where Mira and Geoff came to realize that they were family for one another. It's where we welcomed our little Grayson into the world. We have spent countless hours snuggled up watching movies together, on the back deck with our neighbours and its just home. Our sweet home. As small as it is, it is home. I will be sad to leave it. It has meant so much to us and has contributed to our own personal growth stories. Now it is time for someone else to experience the same. I'm sure that the right person or family will come along and want the same that I did.

Time to move on with my family.....move onto the next chapter.

Lessons Learned

I am so proud of my little girl. Yesterday she learned a very important life lesson. Yesterday she made some very grown up decisions. As a result, she got to school and back home again safely.

At 9:30am, I was trying to put Grayson down for a nap. I didn't hear my phone ringing. When I finally got him sleeping, I checked my voicemail and it was a message from Mira's vice-principal asking me to call her. I immediately panicked. I knew that Mira was not the type of kid to get into trouble and she was well behaved. So why else would the principal call? It must be something wrong....

I called the vice-principal and she advised me that Mira had been dropped off by the bus at the wrong school. I immediately felt a lump in my throat. The vice-principal told me that Mira was fine and was not upset.

The story goes as such:

Mira takes the bus to school every morning. Her bus drops a bunch of kids off at the Catholic school before proceeding to Mira's public school and dropping the rest of the kids. On the first day of school, the Catholic board had a PD day, so her bus didn't make the Catholic school stop.

On day 2 of school, the Catholic board was back in school, therefore, her bus stopped at the Catholic school before continuing on to Mira's school. However, Mira got off at the Catholic school, not realizing it wasn't her school.

So, Mira gets off the bus at the Catholic school and her bus leaves, continuing onto her school. Mira wanders the school yard before she realizes that something isn't right. She approaches a teacher in the yard (who actually ended up being the sister of her Dad's best friend) and asks if it's her school. The teacher replied "no" and immediately brought her inside to sit and wait for her bus to come back and get her to take her to her school.

Mira didn't panic and she was smart enough to ask for help when she wasn't sure what was going on. It meant that my little baby girl has learned some street smarts and has confidence in her decisions. Mira needed to make some decisions that really impacted her safety and well-being. It makes my heart soar to know that she was able to handle this challenge brilliantly. I'm so proud of her. It was scary for her but she said "getting lost is part of the fun". Oh, the optimism. :) 

Mira