1/25/2019 1 Comment linguisticsMy kids go to a French Immersion school, which I love. Except for the fact that I'm terrible, and I mean "maybe Grade 9 French should be your last year" terrible. Reuben can hold his own very nicely but the kids know I speak English. And a few words in Dutch.
It's been a lot of fun (and at times somewhat frustrating) watching the kids learn to read and write in two languages. Jackson can actually read more French than English! And now they are learning a lot of words I don't even know. I think they've even learned a new French no one else knows either. "Mom 'boot' in French is 'butt'. It really is. I'm wearing butts! Shiloh do you like my butts?" " Mom did you know that coat in French is 'penis'? It's actually not a bathroom word anymore. I zipped up my penis all my by myself today. I like your penis Shiloh!" "'Friends' in French is poop. Like I played with a whole bunch of poop today. Hahahahahaha." They've also started whispering to each other, or you know, shouting nasty things like "your shirt isn't cool Jackson! It's pretty!!" and then when I try to interject, I'm told it's French and I don't understand it. It's been great. Real great.
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1/19/2019 0 Comments mom datesI've discovered making friends, either mom friends or friends after you are a mom, is... hard. I mean, you have to juggle nap times, food schedules, ask the awkward "do you guys eat Mcdonalds?" question in a very hushed voice, outing ideas, poop explosions and everyone's favourite, parenting styles. And everyone's idea of ''grungy'' is different - for some people that means curled hair, cable knit sweater and heeled boots to the park. For people like me, that means leggings that are probably ripped somewhere and possibly see through, 3 times dry shampooed hair and leftover makeup from the day prior. Sometimes my friends kids come looking like they stepped out of a magazine while Shiloh is usually dressed in some dress with pink unmatching pants and wild child hair, Harper is covered in marker somewhere and Jackson.. well is Jackson.
But I've been so incredibly blessed to find this amazing group of mom friends here in Caledonia (finally!!). And we do the lamest, most beautiful mom thing ever. It seems like every other week or so we will get together at 8 or 9 pm, drive to Starbucks in whatever the stink we are wearing at the time, chat about anything and everything along the way and do a late night Wal-mart run. The kids are in bed (mostly... sometimes) dinner is done and our husbands are watching TV. And it's this beautiful meet-in-our-chaos moment that I never thought I would love so much. It's literally a come as you are. Sometime the conversation is deep and intense. Other times its hilarious and ridiculous. I feel like we have competitions over whose children are more ridiculous. Sometimes we talk about what kind of boxers our husbands wear (you are all wondering now aren't you??). Before I had kids I told myself I'd never be the stereotypical mom who loved lame mom things. Boy was I wrong. Starbucks/Walmart runs are soon becoming my favourite nights. And not just because of caramel macchiatos with extra caramel although those sure don't hurt. 1/18/2019 0 Comments what's in a nameWe our son, our firstborn, our long awaited child after my much loved dad. Wilfred Jackson Langendoen. It's a mouthfull, but it's one we chose with pride and love. It's sentimental and I love it.
And my kid changes his name to Jacob. That's right. Jacob. Currently all his work assignments having been coming home with Jacob's name written in his chicken scratch at the top. He can barely write his own name legibly but he's mastered Jacob. The helpers in his Sunday School class thought his name was Jacob. Why Jacob? I have no idea. I mean Jackson is the world's most common name, I know I know. But I can almost guarantee there will never be another Wilfred in his class. He could even go by Wilf! But no. To be fair, I'm not quite sure he understands his real name is Wilfred. But Jacob?! Come on. You could have at least called yourself Captain America or Superman or.. something. So if Jackson introduces himself as Jacob.. well. We are working through a few things. 1/18/2019 0 Comments moms that exerciseWhy is Instagram full of those moms with killer bodies that make it seem super easy to squeeze a workout in every day? Like what is that? I mean, don't get me wrong, I do enjoy working out (why it's not cardio) but seriously. But I've been trying for the last year or so to workout more frequently and here's a few things I've learned.
1. Working out for 3 days straight and having 12 hours of clean eating does not let you miraculously wake up one morning with a perky, non stretched pre child body. I've tried. 2.Working out with a kid sitting on your back is not ''super cute'' and an ''awesome extra weight''. It freaking sucks. I feel like dying and my kids have very boney buts. And somehow I become a horse every single time. 3. I almost pee my pants every time I workout. And fart a lot more than normal. 4. Having a cat around while you workout is like working out in a tornado. It jumps, attacks, claws, meows, smashes into it's reflection in the mirror, steps on the computer and generally just attacks you. Your face. 5. The only thing I crave after working out is junk food. Pizza. Panzerottis. Candy. Pop. Basically all the sugar. 6. It's a great way to get out a lot of aggression. I've kickboxed my way through some pretty serious internal arguments. 7. There is a very real fear that I drop my weights on my face every single time. 8. I swear a lot at the computer. "Are you freaking kidding me?!" is heard a lot. 9. Sometimes you just dont' have time to shower. Or change. Whoops. 10. I'm coming to the realization that I just love food too much to see a ton of change. But I will admit, it really does help your mental health! And even though I don't enjoy using my kids as human weights, there is nothing more adorable than watching them workout with me. Harper's really mastered my grunt. 1/1/2019 0 Comments welcome 2019!Well. It's been a year.
It's been a year of adventures and chaos with both laughter and tears. It's been a year of accomplishing dreams and choosing to say good bye to other ones. It's been a year of defeating obstacles in one job while facing mountains more in another. It's been a year of adventure. It's been a year with goodbyes. It's been a year of good health and a year with health challenges. We've found some relationships have grown distant while others have deepened in the most unexpected ways. It's been a year guys, it's been a year. We both turned 30 (GAH!). We are currently redoing our kitchen, at the absolute most ideal time of Christmas. We sent TWO kids off to school this year. We became truly Canadian as we built our own ice rink. We took on an indoor waterpark, the Science Center, Playtown, beaches and conservation areasWe grew our own garden, caught fireflies and built our playhouse cottage. We were the soccer family with kids running around the field picking flowers and chasing bugs. We got pink eye, ear infections, bladder infections, the flu and colds. We took advantage of OHIP. Some went to the cottage, one went to Ireland. We had two epic Kuipers vacations, one we will never forget in Cuba. We had countless dance parties, farting parties, pooping parties. We cried, we laughed, we even sang hymns around the kitchen table. We've had so many memories as a family I never want to forget. But it's been one of the first years I can remember in a long time where my Christmas has felt full of sorrow and loss. It's been an intense year of realizing life is oh so short. Those normal every day things like our health, a functioning home, sweet sweet family vacations (ok that's not as common in our life as I'd like) have become so much more precious. It's been a year of realizing the absolute brokenness of life. And so I pray that 2019 is a year full of hope. A year full of grace. Undeserved, overwhelming grace. My next post will go back to the beautiful wonderful escapades of my crazies. Come on guys, we've added a cat. |
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