Because, clearly, I have too much time on my hands.

that, and my mother seems determined to all the cooking and cleaning around here. oh, bother .
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Just in case you haven’t had enough timelapse yet this holiday

we’re here to provide even more. this time, it’s our sledding adventures at a local power pole (#81, in case you were interested). normally a busy sledding and shredding spot, we were fortunate to have it to ourselves for an hour or so this morning. and an hour of climbing this ‘hill’ proved more than enough. oh, and if edmund was the inadvertant star of our last timelapse, check out agatha in this one.

Question o’ the day: do you sled when given the opportunity? or ski or snowboard? where?

Wintry Delights

as is evident from the timelapse, we are back in cariboo country this christmas, and loving all the winter activities. but, for some of our more canine-inclined readers (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE) here are many photos of life with fast-moving, snow-loving purebred princesses. it will be evident shortly how difficult it is to capture these pampered beasts on film.

christmastime is here.

so, jaegen’s been at it again.  this time the timelapse covers our entire christmas morning, and is set to the cheesiest christmas synthesizer music he could find.  Happy Holidays, everyone!

Snow Day..!…?

it’s kind of a westcoast specific memory, since we are absolute crap at dealing with the dreaded fall of white from the sky, but i can still close my eyes anytime in weather like this and see a 6, 10, 12, 16yr-old me just willing the snow to keep falling, socking her in.  no school.  no work.  snowball fights b/w my dad and my mom, which invariably injure my father in comical fashion (my mother has ‘interesting’ aim).  watching the dogs leap like jackrabbits in the backyard.  knowing before the radio tells me that i’m not going anywhere official today.

the day takes on a special cast, a sort of liminal freezeframe, where yesterday was busyness and stress and pressure, and tomorrow likely to be the same, but here, in the middle of it, someone’s pressed pause and made everything still.  at this realization, i always feel slightly sorry for my friends and fam living to the east and south:  in the east, you seem to soldier on with salt and ploughing, to the south, you never see the fluffy stuff unless you’re on a mountain vacation.  are there days like this for you?  when the weather’s too bad for keeping up with responsibility, but not too ominous to be disturbing?  i hope so.  because right now, before anyone’s awake, it’s beautiful.  the day is full of microcosmic possibilities: slow walks, sledding, watching a movie in the middle of the day guilt-free, baking something just to eat it up right now, just sitting staring out the window.  just about perfect.

Comedy of Terrors

The day began innocuously enough.  Awoke to the CBC Morning Edition predicting more cold, snowy and tumultuous (for vancouver) weather, weather likely to relegate all social obligations and road trip plans to the “Question Mark” column in my already exhausted and overtaxed brain.  This alone was not enough to do any real emotional damage; it simply upgraded the pit in my stomach from walnut-sized to avocado stone.  but, this news, combined with jaegen’s fitful coughing beside me, was enough to propel me out of bed and upstairs to shower and dress.

once upstairs, i managed to surreptiously consume a couple of chocolate-covered almonds (can we say stress eating?) and a cup of coffee, and things continued in their regular rhythms until agatha ventured upstairs (far too early).  Anyone familiar with the expression, “looking for trouble”?  Well, agatha epitomized it this morning–the pacing, restless little body, alternately whining and refusing to find anything fun or productive to do.

flash forward to about 8:30 a.m.  Silly mommy makes the mistake of ordering said little person to dress herself, or, when this is met with near hysterics, to march herself back to bed until willing to do so without fussing.  Daddy escorts her downstairs, and it all ends in hysterical screaming.

exit dad.  a still screaming agatha returns upstairs, only to be escorted, shall we say reluctantly, back to her room.  told that she must stay there until the hysteria is over, she goes nuclear, the nadir of the exchange being a kick administered to mommy’s chest.  Excorcist Voice ™ and threats of old skool punishment from injured mummy ensue.

Left to scream for what turns out to be at least 40 min., mommy turns her attention to youngest Milley.  despite the lovely soundtrack of screaming, both mommy and son have a reasonable breakfast time, and sanity-saving chat with Gramma Samma on the phone. (my apologies to my more sensitive readers.  what follows is distinctly gross, but totally within the realities of parenting.) As mommy goes to say goodbye, however, escaped, potty-training young’un begins to excrete freely all over the hallway floor.  slamming phone to floor and whisking toddler onto toilet–wait for it–splatters evacuated matter onto surrounding walls and floor.

by this point, it had reached new heights of both disgusting and pathetically humourous, which is why i felt compelled to share it with all of you.  Fortunately, things have been on the upswing since this morning’s series of disasters, which is why i am not curled in the fetal position in the corner.  to prove that things have taken a slightly brighter turn, i attach phone-camera snapshots of a park playtime.

Before that, however, a question o’ the day:  what is your most solid coping strategy when things go sideways?  scream? laugh? eat? shop?

Ta da!

Crazy Cake meets Geek

Ah, the glory of living in the digital age.  Today I assembled Agatha’s birthday cake, and, at the last minute, asked jaegen to set up a timelapse.  That way, when it’s all eaten up, I’ll have a record.  Or, as i said to tara, any time i think i might want to make another one, i should watch this video to remind myself what it’s really like.

Hope you like!

MilleyBirthdayFestExtravanganza2008

it’s just easiest if i post all the pictures like this:

Wait for it…

ta da!!! isn’t maggie amazing????

festive photos…and a little parental pride

We’ve been working on our tree.  And, “working” is certainly the word for it.  Every year I delegate the responsibility of lighting it and decorating it to my family.  And, every year, I get so exasperated with the result that I fiddle with it until it begins to resemble my own vision for it.  yes.  i am that fussy.  yes.  you’re fortunate you don’t live and/or share a christmas tree with me.

On the upside, Agatha is becoming quite the little decorative fussbudget herself.  She hung some glass ornaments all by herself this year, and is beginning to understand how to fill out a funny, Charlie Brown-style chrismas tree.   (mostly,  i think she just enjoys any excuse to re-hang and rearrange the ornaments.)

As for the aforementioned parental pride, i have to share that i was bowled over yesterday when agatha, of her own accord, designed a “snow scene” for the front window.  Enlisting jaegen’s and my help only with some of the snowflake cutting, she created the whole layout, “snow drops” (as she calls them) and the snowman.  now, i realize some children do this stuff regularly, and with great skill, but this was a big milestone for agatha.  for the first time, she had the confidence and skill to do her own thing, creatively speaking.  and, i’m really proud.  so’s she, actually: “Isn’t the snowman’s smile just so perfect, mom?” enough with the bragging, behold the photo evidence:

And, finally, today’s biggest mess:

decorating the gift bags for agatha’s birthday party.  even edmund got in on the action.  apparently, he’s allowed a purple bag.  (of course, did mommy think to buy age and gender appropriate stuff for him?  oops.  hopefully, i can rectify the situation before he finds himself wearing a shiny pink headband and pasting hello kitty stickers all over his body).

clearly, EVERYONE is doing a bit better today.  thanks for all your prayers and concern.

question o’ the day:  what is your favourite holiday ornament or decoration (past or present)?