New Years Eve 2006

New Years Eve 2006. On this night, typically associated with wild drunken debauchery, I am sitting quietly by the computer while the kids play by my feet. However, the beers are flowing and we will have a fondue with Les' parents in a couple of hours. In the last few days down at Point Roberts, we have done lots or reading, playing board games and Scrabble and drinking beers by the fire. I have also taken advantage of the recent wind storms by collecting firewood from the plethora of fallen trees littering the ground. So far, I have collected wood from Oak Street, Stanley Park, the Arbutus Club and Point Roberts. I now have a decent stack of Alder, Birch, Hemlock, Cedar and Maple. I also recently got to play in the
Battle of the Bulge" football game. In what will hopefully be a Boxing Day tradition, I played 7 on 7 football with my friends before hitting "Ham Fest" (Steve Hall won a Ham while drinking at the Legion) in the evening. The day very much reminded me of this picture with my 2001-2002 Mattersburg 49ers basketball team. At the end of the season, Rich Anderson, Joey Vickery and I taught the Austrian's how to play football on a beautiful Spring day. We played all afternoon and then had a barbeque in the evening in a park right in the middle of town. We roasted Ferkel (baby pig) on an open fire and drank way too many beers. As we sat around the fire until 2 am, I told the Austrians, in very slurred speach, all about their local history. The next day, I woke with a hangover worthy of New Year's day butalso with the satisfaction of having passed along a little bit of historical knowledge to the locals.

Point Bob, here we come

For the doldrums period between Christmas and New Years, we are heading down to Point Roberts to read the books we got from Santa (if you need a mental image, see the picture of Finny at Point Roberts to the right for inspiration).

As always, errands invade. We have a longish list of things to accomplish before we get to indulge our slothful selves. I shouldn't complain too much though, since one of my "chores" involves shoe shopping with my mom. She has offered to get me a new pair of shoes for my birthday, which is very nice since I have been wearing the same dog-earred, broke-down, beaten up pair of brown shoes since...probably Kindergarten or so. Maybe Grade 2. My feet rejoice. I will be accompanied by my newest shopping accessory--baby in sling--while Eric will take the girls swimming.

A few little errands after that and we are free to head South to drink cheap beer and work on crosswords and sudoku.

Merry Christmas to the blogeshpere

After the orgy of presents and eating, things have returned to semi-normal...well, as normal as they can be with a close-to-newborn in the house. Molly and I went out to Starbucks (there are two within a block of us...wow) with some friends this afternoon. We left Finny and the newbie with Eric. No disasters, so we may venture farther afield next time. Like Mexico, or Hawaii.

Tomorrow we go back down to Point Roberts until New Years. We'll be having fondue at my mom and dad's place to ring in 2007. Mmmm, cooking meat on sticks is fun. I guess I really am a product of the 70s because I think fondues rock.

All the best to everyone for 2007. And if anyone wants to come down to Point Roberts to see us, you know where we are. Unless you don't.

32 is the new black

It is official...I am now 32. Every little girl dreams of getting here and now I am finally solidly in my 30s.

Most of my birthday was celebrated yesterday. We were down in Point Roberts for the whole day (as opposed to today which consisted of a lot of running around and then heading into town for two Christmas parties). I woke up to a delicious breakfast and then went to a cafe for an hour or so for a latte and the NY Times. While I was gone, the little girls and the big girl (Eric, that is) made me a cake. I came back, ate cake, opened presents and we hung out all together.

Today, my REAL birthday, earned me a sleep in. Lucas and I slouched around in bed until 11! My and my NEW man, in bed together. Eric, my old man, made me breakfast again, pretty decent of him considering it was really almost lunch. We cleaned up a bit, then went in to do some Christmas dinner shopping...turkey etc.

We had two Xmas parties tonight. One at Andrew and Lori Rennison's, the second at the Dowlers. Both were very enjoyable and filled with tolerant guests who tried not to cast too many disapproving glances in our direction for keeping our kids out till after 11 o'clock. Hey, we have to party. Three kids can't slow us down. Well, that's a lie. They do slow us down but once in a while, we pretty ourselves up and drag ourselves out. It was a very nice night and the kids were great. All in all, a pretty terrific 32 hours to celebrate 32 very lucky, very happy years.

As an aside, my poor mum slipped down the stairs at the Dowlers and required stitches in her head. We were laughing about how 32 years ago she was in the hospital with me. Then we were REALLY laughing when we saw her come back to the party (what a good sport!) wearing a mesh beanie and bandages. Laughter heals. And, well, it was really funny. So even if laughter didn't heal, we couldn't have helped it anyway. Feel better mum, and thanks for giving me life!

30 km to another world

We brought Lucas down to our place in Point Roberts MAP for his first visit. Unfortunately I now have no time to finish the entry (I spent too long trying to figure out how to put a link to the map on this blog). Work (at Coal Harbour Community Centre) is over and I have to get back to Les and the girls at the cabin/cottage (I still don't know what to call it). We will be back in town for Les' birthday on Friday and will write again then.

We keep our children in a cupboard...and they don't have beds either

What with having a baby and all, there hasn't been much time to do our Christmas shopping. Now that we are a three child family, being reduced to one solitary child makes it seem like we are footloose and fancy free. Eric's mom took the girls out to Alli's house and so Lucas, Eric and I hit the town to charge up the credit card. It is amazing how at one time, shopping with a newborn seemed like a very tough task. Nowadays, one wee boy is a mere shopping accessory, strapped into a baby carrier and toted along with nary a thought. Slinging him around my neck was not much different than putting on a scarf. Wow, three kids have changed us...

We got a fair bit of shopping done, but if you are expecting a present from us this year, you might be disappointed. We are going pretty minimalist. It is amazing how closely connected how much you work is with how much money you have. Who knew?

Christmas gluttony

It's been a good combination of Christmas gluttony and enough exercise for me to burn off the pounds of cookie dough this weekend. On Saturday Les.Molly, Finny, Lucas and I joined the McKnight's extended family for an evening of gingerbread house decorating, beer, pizza and a Canucks victory on TV. On Sunday my basketball team won the final game of the regular season. Molly went with my mom to a puppet show in North Vancouver before joining us at the McKnights for dinner and tree decorating. I am about to head off to my final hockey game before the Christmas break.

Going into Lucas's second weekend!

It's Friday...whoo hoo! Alright. So every day is like a weekend for us at the moment. With Eric not working again until January, our days are filled with getting to know our newest member. So far, getting to know him consists of sitting close to him on the couch and observing his various eye twitches. Not exactly deep stuff, but man, this kid sleeps a lot. Still, no complaints here because it's better than ear-splitting screeches.

We got up early to make it to the girls' Aunt Mandy's house to decorate Christmas cookies. We were a production line. Mandy was making the cookie dough, Eric's mom was cutting out the cookie shapes, I was icing them, and Eric, Molly and Finley were eating all the sprinkles, icing, M&Ms, ju-jubes, chocolate chips and anything else sugary that wasn't tied down. Eric was the ringleader of the sugar-high crowd...his scarfing feats were unrivaled and proved a great inspiration to his two daughters.

We left after decorating almost all the cookies and plastering a gingerbread house with the goodies that escaped the gaping mouth that is my husband. This guy, who is 32 years old don't forget, had green lips and tongue. Seriously.

Eric got called into work a first-aid shift this evening, so the girls and boy and I hung out here. Another rockin' Friday night...for the mother of THREE. Weird.

The Christmas season is here

The day started with Les leaving Lucas for the first time. I had the three kids with me while Les used her maternity gift of an hour long professional massage. She really enjoyed pampering her body this way after months of strain carrying a large baby around. Lucas, who seems reluctant to make a fuss, did really well until hunger got the best of him and sucking on Dad's arm just didn't cut it. In the afternoon, the girls went with my mom for a swim at the Arbutus club. They came home to yet another dinner prepared by members of Heritage Co-op. The pork tenderloin, risotto and vegetables covered in Parmesan cheese and onion wine sauce was delicious. Thanks so much to everybody who contributed in the effort to feed the new parents. In the evening we saw most of the Canucks winning effort against Calgary before taking the whole family to the Echo Memoirs Christmas party.

VIDEO of the girls talking about the upcoming arrival

The top picture is of Molly holding her sister in the Summer of 2004. Below she is holding Lucas. Molly is a very gentle and caring older sister. She cried the other day when she left home for a couple of hours because she was worried her brother would miss her and need her help. If Lucas is ever crying, Molly is the first to run over and see what she can do- whether it is a pat on the head or finding her brother's soother. Finny, with a much more aggressive nature, is surprisingly gentle with her brother as well. While she is quite happy to play roughly with me, she is seems to know that different rules apply for Lucas.
I had a goal and an assist to break a long drought during a hard fought 4-3 win with the Flyers.

Thanks for coming.

We have had lots of visitors over the last couple of days to welcome Lucas home. In our spare time, we watched Cinderella Man, a pretty good movie about a boxer trying to make a living in the depression. My team won again in the Kerrisdale basketball league and clinched first place heading into the playoffs. My hockey team managed a 6-6 tie to break an abysmal losing streak dating back 6 weeks.

First check-up

Les and Lucas went to the doctor's office today and got a clean bill of health. He is back to gaining weight (4.250 kg) after losing some for a couple of days. Molly and Finny helped Eric set-up banners at War Memorial Gym for the HSBC basketball tournament and then went for a swim.

The visitors

Lucas welcomed many visitors who were curious about what a 3-day-old looks like. Les and I continue to be astounded by the food pouring in from neighbours. We are getting spoiled. Molly and Fin went for another bike ride around the block and nobody fell off their bike today!

VIDEO Lucas and his sisters

Lucas comes home

We have had all day at home today, Lucas's first. We slept well last night and woke refreshed and happy to all be back together. As nice as it was to have a short break in hospital, I missed the girls and Eric. Much better to all be in one place.

There is no doubt about it: being a part of a co-op is a nice place to be when you have a new baby. We woke up to fresh baked scones on the doorstep and dinner was brought this afternoon (so delicious, and not just because I didn't have to make it!). Apparently we have a few meals coming, courtesy of some thoughtful and generous organization by our neighbours. How nice is that?

Other than that, visits from family and friends and the community nurse punctuated a very peaceful, happy day at home as a family of five. If it stays this good and easy (which, let's face it, it can't), things are very, very good.

Thanks to everyone for their well wishes. We are lucky people to have so many great friends and Lucas is very fortunate to come into such a nice community.

Arrival of Lucas James Butler

Lucas James arrived yesterday, December 4th, at 8:46 a.m.

After keeping the suspense around here pretty high for 13 days he finally decided to come out. He is a little overbaked. 9 pounds 9 ounces and a very long 56 cm. He is wrinkled and peeling...too long in the bath.

It was a great delivery and both Luke and Les are home.

Too snowy to come

Maybe we have a warm-blooded baby who is afraid of the cold. Last week we had about a foot of snow that has stayed around for longer than usual when the temperature dropped after the storm. Tonight we are having another bout, with about 20 cm expected tonight. We just drove home from the McKnight's and even Broadway was full of snow. We even had to back up a whole block at one point when all forward momentum was stopped. It's not ideal weather for rushing to the hospital and probably not ideal for coaxing a slug out of his tropical lagoon. However, apart from the crushing hip pain that is limiting Les' mobility, all is well here and we hope it is worth the wait.

Waiting for Bob

Still waiting. Where are you Bob? Every time Les comes back from the doctor Finny asks if Bob came out. No! Although only a week after the due date, we have been expecting the imminent arrival of our new family member since the doctor's visit two weeks ago. However, this waiting in a state of limbo is actually quite nice. No need or possibility to go to far or make work. We have opened a Zip account and seen more movies in the past week than we have in the last year and a half. The girls are very happy to have their mom at home after a couple of months that Les was away most days finishing up projects.