other people's blogs
So I won't bother - I will leave Queenie to tell you all about the red chair man in her blog entry Garden's all planted as well
Having kids has made time speed up faster than it ever was when I was a kid and time, particularly in the summer, seemed to stand still.
But this year has flown and today we had to say goodbye to our friends and neighbours for the past 8 months. It has been so lovely having built in new friends from the moment we got here, and way back in September May seemed a long long way off. There were rarely two kids around the place this year, it would range from none (they were all next door) to 5 on any given day.
Henry in particular became a fixture around our kitchen table, showing up each weekend morning at promptly at 8 a.m. (because his folks wouldn't allow him to come earlier) to play Dungeons and Dragons with C. They could get lost for hours in their make believe sessions, once the weather turned warmer - their games took them to the neighbours backyard and the forest beyond, slaying creatures with sticks, or spying.
And sometimes they would spend ages just rocking gently in the hammock - talking about who knows what.
M misses Henry too and though his parents gave us all three boys' ug slippers, M won't take Henry's off.
So Kerry, the other Australian mother, invited M and me to go see Beauty and the Beast with her daughter L. A girls night out sounded like a great idea - a little mother daughter bonding would be neat after two terms of "go ask your father, I'm studying".
L also has a huge assortment of disney outfits so my little cinderella was treated by her australian "fairy godmother" not only a hugely expensive Disney gown for the evening (complete with "clip clop" shoes and tiara) but also to getting her hair done at the local salon!
Being an engineer and a former jock who looks like a complete ass in anything frilly, it never occured to me to get all dressed up princess like for the evening. Not only that but there have been numerous articles on how this princess thing is likely very bad for our little girls who no doubt will grow up to be Britney Spears rehab victims, getting cosmetic surgery as frequently as women get their hair done these days.
But ok - i figured what is one night going to hurt anyone?
It was hard for the girls to actually stay calm before the show - they kept taking off outside only to get harassed by the boys. The twins next door told them they looked "ugly" in typical 5 year old twin fashion. And M's brother was nice to her but finally couldn't handle it anymore and had to chase her around the house. The girls looked like princesses but never really got the handle of acting like princesses which is ok by me.
So we get downtown to Neptune theatre, we don't even make it out of the car before three nice older men give the girls a standing ovation. They giggle the whole walk to the theatre.
I have to admit they did make quite an entrance - every head turned in the theatre, you should have seen when they walked to their seats - literally everyone watched. And, in true Nova Scotia fashion, everyone was so very nice! These girls got more compliments than their mothers have had in years. M's music teacher was there and today she brought in Beaty and the Beast music and had M tell everyone about the play. They did look quite amazing - it reminded me of something out of a period movie or the french court in 17th century. Under the theatre lights the M's dress literally sparkled. It was almost magical. I also got M to stop hiding her head and look people in the eye and say thank you. she was quite good at it in the end.
So I don't really know what to say on the princess front. So much positive energy was thrown their way last night that they just glowed with pride. I wondered what it must have been like to be at the royal court with adults all dressed like this - it must be a pretty neat feeling - who knows, except I'd still look like an ass in frills.
This morning, before we had to return the outfit, M put on her clip clop shoes and went out for her "daily routine" once around the house one last time.
But except for some residual hair spray and bobby pins she seems back to her old jeans and T shirt self - well except she's wearing those wine glass trinkets on her ears as earrings.
Ok have to go - have to deal with a scraped finger.