Next Transitions

 I’m not going to recap, that takes too long and there has been way too much that has filled the time since my last post. That’s my bad. I will say that we now have 2 children graduated (how did that happen??) and we no longer live in Yellowknife. Two years up in the great, vast North and we have moved on to warmer places. Also known as southern Manitoba.

We are down to 3 Floofs, 2 cats and a Doodle (it’s a long story), and it’s a much quieter household with just these guys. The beautiful thing about all of the moves we’ve done so far is that each one has been so unique. This one was no different.

We left Yellowknife before the end of June, the timeline worked the best for us, and this is the first move we’ve done as a family that we haven’t all moved at the same time. Hubby left first, and he oversaw the unload of the furniture and boxes. When the Girls and I arrived, we had less than 24 hours until Hubby had to leave again to travel for work. Smarty has been spending the summer in Nova Scotia at Basic Training, Sergeant joined us in Manitoba after he was done his diplomas up north.

 It’s been busy as we get everything ready to switch over to a new province for registrations, licenses, certifications, and everything. We’ve visited friends that were too long since we’d seen, we’ve taken advantage of living closer to some family we’ve never live close to before.

It’s been odd, settling into a new house without Hubby in the space too. And without all the Littles all at the same time, it’s been a very different time. But we’re getting there. Hubby comes home today and it’s going to be amazing having him home. Half of the summer has passed, but there is still a lot of time for us to spend until school starts for everyone.

These last couple of days I have had a lot of reflection, as often happens when changes happen. Our children are growing up into people I enjoy spending time with. The Boys are starting to find some direction for their futures. The Girls are learning how complicated growth can feel; that it’s possible to be both happy and sad at life changes, and that’s okay.

I have learned just how tired I am of unpacking houses; this is the eleventh home Hubby and I have moved into since the beginning, almost 21 years ago. I will likely unpack and settle into a few more, but for now I’m happy to be out of boxes (for the most part) and finding a summer groove. I’ve certainly enjoyed laying in the humid heat of southern Manitoba without worrying so much about deerfly, horsefly, blackfly, and whatever else likes to take chunks out of my skin up north. July started with a lot of rain followed by a lot of heat, and so we have really been appreciating the air conditioning in the new home.

The trouble with moving with older children at the beginning of summer is that they don’t know anyone in the new town. When they were little I would take them to the park while other parents of little ones were there and that’s how they’d make friends. That’s more challenging with teens. I saw a couple of girls walking by with a volleyball and suggested to Girlie and Monkey that they should go and say hi, see if they could play. Apparently, that’s not what they wanted to do (which I get, I totally understand). I know it can be hard for them, having moved as a teenager myself, and so we’re exploring churches in the area, both for a spiritual home for us and for a social group of people with similar values for the kids (the girls in particular, since they’re the ones who’ll be living here full time during the school year).

I’ve discovered there are two wolves inside me; one wants to be busy and find a job right away and fulfill that part of my life, the other wants to be a stay at home mom forever and putter with my crafting and baking for the rest of my life. I’m grateful my contract last school year means I have the summer off anyways, just waiting and waiting and waiting for my credentials to be certified in the new province. Nothing to do except wait for that. In the meantime, I’m getting ducks in a row for next steps in my schooling journey and being present for the kids as they work their ways through the transition of the move. I’m making plans with ideas I have to put work into the backyard and the basement, just to invest a little time and energy into the space. I have rearranged the living room 4 times so far, to see what configuration works and feels the best.

All in all, a pretty little town. I’ve started learning my way through Winnipeg and Steinbach, because we’re pretty much half way between the two. I’ve gotten a library card, we’ve explored the Rec Centre here in town. It’s really neat to see and hear the crop dusters as they buzz by, as we live maybe 2 blocks from corn fields in two directions. This is the smallest town the kids have lived in, and I think it’s going to be the perfect pace of life for right now.

May Flowers (maybe)

The world is finally warming up! The ice in the back yard is almost gone, the grass and dirt is slowly drying out, and the sun is up both early in the morning and later at night. I was able to move some seeds from inside (I started them about a month ago) and move them outside. Mushu (our Madagascr Dragon Tree that we've had since we lived in Halifax) will be moving to the deck for the summer starting tomorrow because the air no longer hurts anyone's faces. I am so excited!

I spent a chunk of the afternoon and evening outside today, with shoes (I really wanted bare feet but it was so mucky), and I got some seeds in and watered. I sat facing the sun and just enjoyed feeling the amazing warm on my skin. I am recharging after being bundled up and cold for the last 7 months.

Something I've noticed is that there is always a sense of transition here. The days are getting darker, but as soon as they're dark, the days start getting lighter. We transitioned from summer to winter and as soon as winter “arrived” the transition started again to summer. The ground is warming up but there are still no leaves on any trees or shrubs. The air still has a chill in it when it's blowing, but I'm glad its blowing because it's helping the ground dry out.

The dogs are enjoying being able to go crazy in the yard, though it means more baths for them. I tried prepping the garden last weekend but the soil was frozen about 6 inches into the garden beds. This weekend is a different story, thankfully.

I've started a practicum (yay!) and even though the class is chaotic (went from 10 and 7 year olds to a class of 4 year olds) it's a chaotic rhythm I know, understand, and love. This week I made bread with them (broken into small groups) and they had so much fun. The pride they felt when they told their caregivers that they had made the bread was amazing. And it opened up some fun conversations with the children. “I've never baked before.” Well that day they did!

I am so incredibly grateful for the weather shift (finally) and for the chance to learn and grow in new ways while I discern what paths I ought to take professionally. I see where I have gifts and they pull in so many different directions, it's sometimes a challenge to see clearly where I want to be. I've already put so much of myself in my passion (my own children, spouse, and our home) that sometimes I'm surprised there's anything left for a professional outlet, but it's definitely there and it's itching to come out now that the Monsters are all getting older. They still need a lot of input, it's less physically demanding than toddlers and preschoolers, but it's emotionally demanding. Wouldn't have it any other way, though :)

Dandelion update

 It's been a hot minute since I've written about life in the frozen North of 60. We have survived the dark and the freeze and there is daylight starting to reach across the sky at 5:30 in the morning and it's lingering until roughly 10 at night. The weather shifted suddenly to warmer a couple of weeks ago and the melt has been quick and intense! The wind is helping the water evaporate, even though it also brought in more chilly temperatures too.

Easter is upon us! Just wrapping up the long weekend where it actually felt restful and like a weekend! Hubby and I intentionally slowed the days down; we had lots of church (Hubby filled in at a local church for Easter Sunday), not a lot of shopping, some family volunteering, and lots of walks. Advance polls were open today so Smarty and I exercised our civic duty to have our voices count; Hubby did his through work last week and this was Smarty's first election as an adult. So exciting!!

Work and school have been busy for everyone, with the weeks feeling pretty long sometimes. This sunshine is absolutely helping with the days and now the countdown is on for summer. Only 9 weeks left of the school year here!

Girlie got her first job aside from babysitting! She is only 1 week into her new role and so far she's enjoying it. Monkey is busy staying active with soccer through school a couple of times a week. She had such a blast with the volleyball and basketball teams, I'm glad she's choosing to stay active with her peers.

Today the whole family went to the SPCA to volunteer and walk a few puppies; I am happy to report we did NOT bring home a new fur baby :) though a few hearts were stolen by wagging tails and smiley puppy faces.

I have some seedling started for planting in our garden boxes one the snow and ice are gone from on top of them. I suspect it's going to be more than a few weeks until it's safe to put them into the ground.

We are approaching the 1 year anniversary of when Hubby and I took the trip up here to look at our housing and it's hard to believe a year is nearly gone. This is a place so different than any other we've lived in and the challenges of any transition and move are still very real, though they are settling down. We managed to get a very brief trip down to Alberta during our spring break and that was incredibly helpful in a lot of ways. We had some heartbreak as we saw friends and had to say goodbye again, but there was a sense of “it's going to be good to get home” as we were driving north again.

Home isn't the place we live, it's where our little family unit rests; it's where the Floofs are and where our beds are. Home is wherever we happen to land for however long we land for. We're just finishing up with the month of April, which is the month of the Military Child; the flower that represents the Military Child is a dandelion – they plant themselves wherever they land and they flourish. Looking back at the years we have now called home to 10 different addresses since Hubby and I got married. Only 5 of those have been while he's been in the military. Our children are building themselves into some amazing people, not only because they are amazing and wonderful kids; they are gaining some amazing life experiences that a lot of people don't get to have. Part of that is because they are dandelions :)

There are no actual dandelions growing here right now, the ground is still too frozen. But the seeds are flourishing regardless.

The only way out is through

 There has been a lot on my mind recently; some family and parent related, some work and child related, a lot of overlap with relationship between home/school/church/current events and trends.

One of the teens said something the other week and when I started to respond they stopped me and said “wait, we've talked about this before. You're gonna tell me X, Y, and Z. And you're right.” That felt like an amazing moment. I will also add that even though they said they knew what they ought to do/say, they did not in fact do/say the thing. That's a human thing though. There are some things we can't help but do even when we know we ought to do differently. But we can keep trying.

I love the relationships we have with our children. I love the relationships that they have with us; they are always texting fun things that cross their mind, they ask thought-provoking questions and want to be involved in deeper conversations, they push back a little when we ask them to do something but usually not very hard. They know there are reasons for us asking things of them. I can genuinely say that I enjoy the people our children are, and I choose to spend time with them.

I came across something someone said or posted online somewhere; they said that their goal as a parent was to be someone their children would choose to be around. I feel it's the other way around – we have so much input into our children, how do we take what they are when they're born and turn them into people we enjoy spending time with? I'm not talking about being your child's best friend instead of their parent; they need a parent, not a friend. But I'm talking about actual work and input; things like “this is how you have a conversation. This is what is acceptable in public. This is the proper use of sarcasm and dark humour. This is how to stay within a boundary for yours and everyone else's sake.”

Things like resilience and when to listen to what your body is telling you and when to push through because it will make you stronger. Tough lessons like “the only way out is through” and “sometimes it's gonna be painful but it'll pass eventually”. Things like how to live in moderation without too much self-denying or self-indulging; the balance that life needs to be fulfilling and worthwhile. In order to make well-rounded adults we need well-rounded children; ones who are able to do difficult things even when they don't want to, ones who are able to think outside the box and outside themselves, ones who can make us smile with their wit (even biting wit) instead of shake our heads at the meanness of their roasting.

It is a lot of work to teach, model, and sculpt children into amazing adults but it's better than the alternative; having children who are so self-focused they aren't able to consider a greater/broader good, or ones that are just nasty to everyone simply because they can be. It means being the one who makes and keeps the boundaries. It means being the adult in the relationship that makes sure the right thing is done. It means making choices with long-term goals in sight, not just what's easy or fun in the moment. It looks like balancing out life with some fun and some not-so-fun. It looks like being yelled at by a small tyrant when they're angry and you have to keep your resolve or they're gonna learn that if they're loud they'll get their way. It looks like worrying that you aren't doing enough, or feeling like you're failing.

The important thing is to keep showing up, keep doing your best. You can only do what you can do, and you might need to find creative ways to keep your sanity, but it will get better. As Littles turn into Biggers the challenges are still there but they shift as their needs shift. But when the foundations are laid early on, it becomes less bumpy because the foundation is so strong.

Educators have a rough time right now, the swing toward gentle parenting (that is actually permissive parenting in how so many parents practice it...) and the use of technology with social media at young ages make the classroom a nightmare of behaviours and personalities. And schools can only do so much without the support of the families to re-direct the energy of the students away from picking at each other to building each other up and working to get through an issue or a difficult situation.

One step at a time, the only way out is through. Together we'll get it eventually.

Happy New Year!

 It's been busy and it's been a roller coaster. It's been cold. It's gotten warmer. It's gotten colder again. Monkey had her choir concert (which was absolutely lovely) and we survived the last few weeks of school before the winter break. We went to 2 Christmas Eve church services (one with the Pentecostals, one with the Anglicans with frankincense) and then the Christmas morning service again with the Anglicans.

It was our first Christmas without the Magic (after a deep conversation with the youngest after last Christmas) and my Christmas morning was a lot more emotional than I was expecting. I woke up abruptly with vivid images of blond curly hair, holidays past, and I had a difficult time keeping the tears from flowing all morning. Survived though.

We took a very serious approach to the winter break this year, with the goal being hibernation. We ate, we slept, we hunkered down. There were a handful of times that we went to the track to just move our bodies, but for the most part we enjoyed the warmth of the house and the took advantage of the darkness. It fed our souls.

Smarty and Sergeant worked through the last 2 weeks and that added some structure to the days somewhat. Tomorrow school and work starts back up for everyone else and I think it's going to be rough for a couple of days. Last night most of the Littles slept in the living room and everyone has been sleeping later when they have a chance to. So tonight will be an earlier bedtime and alarms will be set for the morning and we'll try to hit the ground running. At least that's the goal.

Tomorrow also marks the beginning of my next semester of classes. At Hubby's suggestion I took this last term off to help with the family transitioning to the move. I'm looking forward to checking three more courses off my to-do list and getting closer to realizing some goals of mine :) Plus it's good modelling for the Littles that learning doesn't stop and it's important to work steadily to reach goals.

I think that wraps up 2024 for us. New Years Eve we went to the Mess for a family pot-luck and watched some fireworks from there. Then we went home, changed into pjs and played cards for most of what was left of the evening. It was a quiet midnight celebration and very different than we've celebrated in the past, but it was perfect for the year we've had.

Hoping the year ahead of us has fewer upheavals and more smooth roads than the last year! But even those have been positive in the long run, just challenging for the shorter term.

Cold weather and cocoa

 Well it's Sunday night, the last Sunday in November. Month #5 in this posting is finished and we are learning what winter here can be like.

We have had 4 days with a -30 windchill last week. We've experienced that before, just not usually this early in the season. Autumn was longer and more lovely than we've experienced in recent years; it actually felt like fall and not a prolonged summer! The snow is mid-calf (up to the top of my boots) and the people who have been here a long time say this is more snow than they usually get; though the last couple of years have been like this winter. There is a bit more snow forecast this week. And that makes me smile.

The sun is rising around 9:20 in the morning and setting at 3:30 in the afternoon, but there's only another month until the sun starts shining a little more each day. We are faithfully taking our vitamins (especially D with the lessening sunlight) and keeping our overhead lights on (we switched a lot of our ceiling lights to LED that will help keep seasonal slumps at bay).

We are still going for walks, all bundled up and with reflective belts so drivers can see us. We also maybe might have set up our Christmas decorations. As Hubby says, Advent is something that happens in other homes. Not ours :)

We got out my millions of Nativity scenes (I swear I can quit whenever I want to), the tinsel, the lights, and the tree. We set the tree up without ornaments for a few days so the Floofs could get used to having it in the house. Once those ornaments were up, though, the cat (the Gremiln) was chasing them all over the floor in the middle of the night. The bottom row of lights doesn't work anymore since an animal (I can't remember which one) chewed the strand and it shorted out. But it's a beautiful tree. There was a lot of discussion over where to place what, the tree especially, but I think it has all turned out beautifully.

The next step is taking out the Christmas dishes (I'm planning on taking them out of the box tomorrow) and I am excited to start using those. Every time we take them out to use them I smile.

One month until Christmas, 4 weeks of school, a handful of holiday parties and events, and before we know it no one will have class and everyone will be hibernating for days and days on end. Next Sunday, the first Sunday in Advent, there is a community carol sing-a-long and the Littles and I are joining the choir for that. I'm really looking forward to that! I love singing those hymns <3

Last night was the Santa Parade for the city and it was a long one! The parade route was so short, but there were so many floats and people! I made sure we brought thermoses of hot chocolate since it was so chilly out and they really helped :)

SWEATER WEATHER

 Back in the summer I made a list of blog ideas as they were happening to write about later. This post is one of those, not because I can't think of anything else to write about, but because the longer I put it off the less flowing I think the writing would be.

During the summer, before school started up and when the days were so incredibly long. I did a thing. Actually a couple of things. I took some ideas I had in my head and turned them into reality. I saw how much yarn of one colour I had and thought "That could be a sweater.”

So I began to experiment with ideas, stitches, hook size.  I didn't want to knit it - I have a couple of knit sweater projects on the go already, so I wanted something that would work up quickly and still look amazing.

I did the first one for Monkey.  Not bad for a first attempt and not really using a pattern! (I think it's too loose and baggy but she absolutely LOVES it).  

So then I grabbed a different colour and did one for Girlie (a little more fitted because that's her style). I am always surprised when I re-learn what her favourite colour is, because she often picks yellow for things she'd like me to make her.  Yellow hat, yellow mitts, now a yellow sweater.  She sure does look stunning!

When I saw how well these ones turned out I decided to try something different for myself. Super bright colour, more of a wrap than a pull-over sweater, with a tighter and a smaller stitch. I trimmed with black and it is so warm! It has, of course, been "borrowed" and I encourage that ;) Things made with love are meant to be shared with love. And honestly, she wears it better than I do! 

I learned more about blocking and have finally fallen in love with a patiently blocked piece of work.  Most of what I create now will be properly blocked (mitts and tuques excluded) and I continue on my knitting journey.

Monkey had a volleyball weekend a few weeks ago where we were at the school constantly, and I was able to work on my most recent kniiting work almost constantly during that.  Monkey said that I mesmerized a couple of her team mates because my eyes rarely left the court but my fingers were constantly busy!  That could only happen because the pattern was so repetitive, not because I'm that amazing at it ;)  I'll post a picture when it's finally finished, knitting just takes so much longer than crochet. But I do enjoy both so much.

There will be more.  There are anecdotes to write about, catching up on birthday cake, and other snippets to share. We are currently 4 months in our new home and the adjustment to the change has been about as expected. It always takes longer than we hope to feel like the transition is settled, and the 4-6 month mark is often the hardest emotionally. Good thing we know this coming into it and we are prepared to give grace to each other when we can. There is decidedly less daylight now, there is snow on the ground, and we (Monkey and I are at least) are starting to plan out when we can decorate the house for the winter holidays :D