I cannot believe it is only Tuesday. I collapsed last night, exhausted. Being on the go and organized and experiencing all of this is pure exhaustion. This week will be the crazy one, then it is a matter of waiting … waiting for the closing date … waiting to go home.

Ethan was remarkable yesterday. He spent his first afternoon away  from me. We had the house inspection to attend to. Initially J was unable to go, so I would have been flying solo with the children. We have never owned a home before, so I wanted to make sure we received a through overview of the house, its quirks and required maintenance. So my sweet friend took both my children for the afternoon!! I was so not sure how Ethan would fair, he bursts into tears if the distance between us is too great!

He cried when I left, however my friend called and said she placed him on the rocking horse after I walked out and he was giggling. The afternoon was wonderful for both kids (my friend has three children that are amazing so they always have a blast together) In fact when we came to pick them up, they were both happily sitting at the table, sweaty from playing hard, eating a snack.

The house inspection went AWESOME. The house although older is in wonderful condition. There are a few future improvements that will be done, however nothing pending immediate attention. We meet with our finance guru this afternoon (by then I should have our house insurance all set) and we have officially met all the conditions for the sale of the house.

Oh! J & I also went to meet the neighbor, just to see if he had anything to say. He was only positive and was so nice!! Unfortunately they are moving too!! They are in the navy and have been relocated They even have a daughter close to Becs age!

Oh! (things keep getting better & better hehe) There is a French Immersion school within walking distance! So next year I will be walking Becca to school! It is a nice small school and so close!!

What is your favourite aspect of your home?

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3.62 km             26:05 min.                    Pace 7:12 min/km   <– Not my best run, however I am really tired, it is that time of the month and i am really consumed with distractions. Next run will be better I went out, I tried <– That is what counts for me.

Ethan has not been sleeping well. This is causing much dishevel in our world as we are so interconnected. I *think* it is his eye teeth torturing him. The other night he was so worked up, he vomited. Not fun for anyone.

Becca has been getting up really early, crawling into bed with me, just after her Dad gets up and sleeping. This is a sweet wonderful thing.

We looked at a few more houses. Nothing that suits our family just so. I am trying to take this opportunity to organize myself, complete some projects and get ready for Halloween and Christmas.

I am making Becca’s costume this year.

I am creating *most* of the Christmas presents that we will be giving this year. I cannot really share much about that since most of the recipients read this blog!

J is into full swing. His second semester of teaching is consuming  a lot of his time. We have been trying so hard the past two weeks to remain on top of everything that we both crash, by 10pm every night (not to mention Ethan not sleeping).

I have been plagued with shin splits (I think, again, grrr), making my runs not fun. Finally last night I kicked ass and had a great run. Much More Than a Mom and Mom on the Run have been posting their work outs at the end of their posts, which I am going to shamelessly copy. This weekend I have a running date! I am actually going to run with another! I am so nervous! However she just had a baby so I should be able to keep up

Ew! Ok the mystery item that included these ingredients .. water, gluclose-fructose, sel, caramel, hydrolyzed soy protein, corn syrup, citric acid, sodium benzoate.<— that is suppose to be Soya Sauce! ew! Instead it should have included soya beans or defatted soya bean meal, wheat, salt and water. We will be watching our labels A LOT more closely!

The air is shouting that Autumn is quickly approaching. I love that we are back in Canada. This will be our first Fall back. I am in awe that we are approaching the year mark. The leaves are still green, however the spiders are out and the geese are flying overhead. It is cool yet comfortable outside.

What is your favourite aspect of Autumn? Is it making its appearance in your neck of the woods?

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4.04 km     27:10 min.      6:42 Pace  <– Sweet run. I feel great. Never paused to walk, ran the entire way!

Becca is loving her preschool aquatics summer camp! I had regrets signing her up the last week of summer, thinking we were going to miss out on our last chances at the beach this year. Turns out the weather is wet, cold and blustery all this week, so no loss.

It always amazes me how secure and content Becca is. She was my little clingy monkey once upon a time. Now she barely looks up as I am frantically waving bye and blowing kisses. Mind you her cute and cuddly brother is still clinging like a python. Hopefully he too will gain that inner balance and confidence when he is ready. We are going to attend MOPS again this year, maybe Ethan will find his confidence there. I am amazed at what one year can bring …. They were so tiny!

As I trudged through the wind and rain four times yesterday morning, I grumbled and moaned, despising living in an apartment just a little more than normal. Sure I have less to clean (more to keep organized due to lack of space), and less responsibility with no yard and such. However instead I have to navigate to the fourth floor of the building, with children, groceries, my sanity. We have a really lovely apartment in a building that smells of smoke and dampness (not always but enough to annoy the wanna-be house dweller ya know?)

I had an amazing run the other night. I went farther than ever and felt amazing. I realized that my sluggish runs as of late were due to running with emotional baggage, rather than running free. Who knew the weight of my heart could slow me down so much? I had to take down the Nike+ Plugin. My amazing Web Hosts at Laughing Squid caught that the plugin was erroring and sending my information for anyone (any geek) to see and use for evil. If you use the plugin, be aware that is a possibility.

I have some exciting news I can hardly wait to share with you … but I am going to wait just a little longer I know I am such a tease!

How do you build confidence in your child(ren)? Or yourself?

My dear sweet four year old wants a “Stay At Home Day“, everyday. When asked what she would like to do, that is the response I receive. Not even the playground, swimming, or the museum will sway her will to stay home.

Rather than fight her to go the the playground, I have started to respect her desire to stay home. In return she has been such a pleasure to be around. Her amazing ability to play independently for HOURS has shocked me. She will literally set up her Playmobile, My Little Ponies, and animals up and make up stories, playing the entire day. Yesterday we had to eat outside as not to disturb the storyline going on our kitchen table. I am trying not to clean it up (rather insist that she clean it up) until she shows signs that she has completed her play.

She seems to tire easily lately. By bedtime she is exhausted, on the verge of melting down. Bedtime is 7:30 pm, so I am not sure we can move it any earlier. She will not nap, she is so beyond that, yet I have had to shake her awake at aorund 4 pm from her bed when she has curled up to look at books and accidently fallen asleep! My assumption is that she is growing and all the imaginary play is wearing her out?!?!

The little guy is content to play with his trucks, try to disturb his big sister and chase the cat. His ability to mimic words is exploiding and he is starting to communicate with us more and more. He does not mind these stay at home days.

At first I was annoyed. I wanted to get out there and explore, go on adventures and experience the world with my children. Now I am starting to apprecaite this downtime. I am catching up on the computer, knitting, sewing and thinking a lot. My urge to get outside while the weather is still nice is still very strong, but my four year old doesn’t really understand what is to come. How long winter in Canada can feel. How cabin fever sets in, making one stir crazy. Maybe she will not experience this. She has always been more content than other children to chill out indoors. The little guy needs more ouside time, but is still little enough that I can wear him out in the apartment.

Thanks for all your thoughts on buying a house. I am not really sure what our next step will be. I just want it to be a fun and exciting experience for J & I.

Is your family explorers or the stay at home type? How do you balance it?

.. Had one of those days that never ends?

It is not a bad day. Rather it has been a fantastic day, full of creativity, laughter and fun. Yet it is still not over. I feel like we packed in a summer worth of activities in one day! It helps that it is a rainy day, keeping us indoors, only to face one another. I am going to be so ready for bed when the time comes.

I have been extremely busy with preparations for Becca’s fourth birthday. She is so into the planning process. We are making homemade playdough for her friends that attend the party, then she helped me design the Thank-You & Recipe card. We also worked on some bean bags today (made of my old socks! they turned out rather cute if I do say so myself).

(Becca is in love with the one in the front and has not put it down since I sewed it!)

Becca has received birthday packages in the mail, causing her to almost burst with curiosity. It is so cute to watch her anticipation build and that twinkle in her eye.

The house has been torn apart, put back together again and torn apart again so many times today my head is spinning. I am in awe how much the children have done.

(They look innocent enough don’t they?)

I apologize for my lack of presence out there, all this sewing, stitching, planning, cooking, baking, shopping … it is all keeping me very far from the computer, in fact I actually have UNREAD email (blasphemy). I am enjoying the children so much in this moment that it is consuming me. Life has never been this good, this easy, this amazing.