Over the course of the past year, my hubby has often talked about how strange it will be to grow out of the toddler stage.  I didn't really get it.  My head has been stuck in the world of Dora and toys safe for chewing on for the past five years through either foster parenting or running my family daycare.   I've been mostly trying to come to grips with the idea that these children are now mine forever and I don't have to give them back to someone.  I hadn't really been able to process yet that our kids are growing and what that means.

And then the school year started.  My oldest started kindergarten and we had to adjust as a family to a schedule outside of our control. We decided to try some sports activities for the kids and suddenly I find myself experiencing a whole new momlife.  Waiting for the schoolbus, writing notes to teachers, carting kids to hockey, skating lessons, and dance class.  And meeting other mothers.  OMG, what a weird experience as an adoptive mother.

Suddenly I'm thrust into the world of mother-small-talk.  You know, the competitive questions about pregnancy, when my kids first walked or talked, etc.  Mostly I just try to deflect the question or guide the conversation elsewhere.  But when really pressed, I just say, "I don't remember exactly when he started walking, but your daughter looks like she's toddling along really well for her age" or something along those reassuring lines that their child is indeed normal and doing well.   At least I haven't had any lectures on birth control.  Those comments only seem to come from cashiers and strangers waiting in line at stores who don't appreciate the joyful noises my kids are expressing or the huge pile of groceries they are having to wait in line behind. 

My sister-in-law sent me this video about mom small talk. Do other moms talk to you like this too?

My 5 yr old son has figured out that I like to look for "kid-friendly" videos on youtube on Fridays.  He heard me playing some stuff & he came running.  "Mommy?" he says, "Can you play the Never Gonna Desert You song this week?"

The last 5 minutes is the famous "I have a Dream" segment.

Behind us, across the alley, lives a recent widower. He's a very nice old man that I see from time to time while taking out the garbage or often when he comes down the sidewalk to walk his little poodle. A week ago he startled me by walking through our backyard to the back door.  What's wrong with the front door?  Turns out he even drove in his car, I saw it was parked out front.  At our rental house here in Edmonton before we bought this house, I had a neighbor about the same age who would come to my back door also.  Maybe its a generational thing?  Or something specific to Edmonton culture?  I don't know.

Anyways, the neighbor was here last week because he had an apple tree that was ready for the picking.  He was offering to let us come pick some.  So me and the kids headed over.  The neighbor's yard is a stark contrast from mine.  Perfectly manicured grass.  Dozens of lovely flowering annuals planted in nooks in the garage wall.  And right in the middle of his yard was a lovely young hybrid apple tree, about six feet tall just drooping with lovely apples.  Some branches were covered in soft gala-like apples.  There were grafted branches of those bitter but beautiful green apples.  And some of the tree was covered in plumb and sweet crab apples.  I'd always been taught that crab apples were junk, but these are lovely and sweet. 

My poor neighbor did most of the picking, while I  herded my children and tried to keep them from breaking off tender branches.  My two year old kept picking an apple, taking one bite, and then putting that one in the bucket while he ran off for another one to sample.  But after just a short time, we had unloaded only about a third of the tree and there was more than 20 gallons of apples!  I told the neighbor we couldn't possibly take any more than that.  He insisted saying he only could eat a few a day and the rest would go to the birds.  I begged, please, I'll have a hard enough time using these!  So finally he gave up and we started hauling the apples home. 

Fortunately on the way home across the alley, another neighbor saw the procession and asked if she could have some apples.  So I was glad that there were some left over.  But oh my goodness.  Baking is not my forte.

I made an apple crumble and some banana muffins and took them back to the neighbor for a thank you.  I've never made a pastry-type pie, so I just stuck with what I knew.  With three little interrupting monkeys, a home reno and my mother-in-law needing attention at various times, here we are a week out and I'm still processing apples.  I've been cooking them for freezing and I only have about 5 gallons left.  I'll learn how to do the pie shells later when I'm not so overwhelmed with the task of peeling and processing.  But I look forward to a winter of pies and yummy apple things.

Do you have any favorite apple pie recipes or other fall apple yummy treats you would like to share?

This weekend we attended a Fairytale-themed dressup birthday party.  My littlest stayed home with Daddy since it was scheduled for nap time.  A good time was had by both my little princess and my little pirate.

Other parents who attended the party expressed surprise at the extent of my kids' costumes.  But we have a big bin of costumes and clothes as we play dress-up a lot at home. You see, fairy tales are an everyday topic at our house. We read at a morning circle time and at bedtime and even sometimes at random times in between.  We have tons of books that I'm totally getting tired of reading over and over.  I thought maybe I'd try to start checking out books for from the library for some variety.

Last week was our first trip to the library and I was seriously afraid I was bringing wild bulls into a china cabinet.  But both last week and today, the kids were really quiet and well behaved.  They even resisted the temptation of banging on the giant fish tank.  And we left with the library still standing.  I checked their temperatures when we got home the first time to make sure they weren't sick as I was so surprised at how good they were!

One of the books we got this time around was Tough Boris by Mem Fox. I thought it was going to be a straight forward story about surly and tough pirates finding buried treasure or something, but the short story takes a very unexpected turn to loss and grief before the end. It is a good book especially for introducing the concept of loss and emotional expression.  And the kids loved the pirate illustrations.

How old were you or your kids when you started going to the library?  Do you have any favorite books from when you were young?

Just a note following the picture in the last post.

I like graffiti in public places that otherwise are yucky & grey, like underpasses or soundwalls.  But on the side of public buildings and private businesses is rude and trespassing in my opinion. 

This one on a school is especially silly.  Had the artist approached the school and asked to do a mural there, I'm sure they would have said yes since that wall only faces the playground and is not visible from the streets.  

The Wild Rose is the flower for the province for Alberta, so they could have actually done something really nice and educational for the kids.  Art can be so much more than a selfish sneaky act.