New Site!

Friends! I am now permanently blogging at www.elasticpantcity.com. Same idea, new look!

We Can Fly

 This Halloween involved a mix of costume, rain gear and pyjamas. Our family consisted of Peter Pan, Hook (Some how I didn't get a picture of Ben in his costume) Wendy (me, although to our neighbours I just looked inappropriately dressed), a little Tinker Bell and one lost boy. 

Cousins are the cutest.

Mommy Musings | Pumped Up

My trip down to Seattle with a group of girlfriends was an amazing time. We shopped, we shopped, we ate, we even did some learning at a conference for women on Biblical counselling (If that sounds weird, ask me and I can explain it more). I had to pump every few hours. At one point during the conference I went into the nursing mom's room and there were at least 10 other women hooked up to pumps. The one baby in the room started crying and we all cheered as our milk flowed (I know you're totally weirded out if you don't have kids, but this is a glimpse into the secret world of moms. And trust me there are many secrets). 

Ben was at home with the boys and it turns out they don't need me 24 hours a day, every day, for all eternity. Jethro slept well (what!?), they played and ate at McDonald's. I had pumped for two weeks leading up to my trip so that Jethro could still have breast milk, but he refused to take it while I was gone. I was seriously debating weaning him cold turkey. My girlfriends encouraged me to make the break and Ben was behind the idea.

By the time we were driving home, I was an over full balloon, ready to burst. I had milk backed up to my ears and I was uncomfortable to the point of nausea. When I walked in the door to my home at 10:30 PM I had made up my mind not to nurse Jet any more. I would just pump to be more comfortable. 

But....

I thought I'd better go into Jethro's room and check on him. I stood by his crib looking at his sweet, sleeping body. And then his lips began to make the sucking motion for nursing. I wasn't going to nurse. Instead I just lightly stroked his forehead....Oh, no! He woke up! What a surprise. As if by some gravitational force Jethro ended up on my breast. 

I like to be needed. 

Grow Op

It's always been my dream to have a vegetable garden year round. I read about winter hardy vegetables but I wasn't sure how any plants could endure the rainy, cold Vancouver winters. My summer garden was pitiful. My greens and beans did well but every thing else came up as spindly little plants with little  produce. I couldn't even grow zucchinis! I also became lazy with the watering... but I'm sure it was a bad season in general ; ) 

When I get an idea in mind I usually go full force or drop it quickly. After some more reading I decided that a winter garden would be worth a try. I took the boys to the local nursery in a stroller, prodded Levi out of his seat so I could wheel home a huge bag of fertilizer and picked up a variety of vegetables (spinach, radishes, mixed greens, chard and kale). The boys went to visit their grandparents because I had been feeling overwhelmed (which never happens) and I took advantage of the time to weed and seed. I wanted to protect my vegetables from the cold so my handy husband built me two cloche covers with piping and plastic drop sheets. He found every thing at Home Depot for a fraction of the price that a cloche kit costs. 

Despite my neighbour's dog digging a hole in one of the beds, seedlings began to pop up after a few days. 

We had to get our cloche up quickly because the first frost was approaching. It isn't pretty but it serve's it's purpose.

Do you plant winter vegetables? Tell me what grows well!

Mommy Musings | Expression

This photo of Levi was taken on Granville Island by his third cousin, Emerald. It captures his personality so well: imaginative, silly, full of wonder at the world around him. My grandpa was a photographer (no relation to Emerald) and all his photos were taken on black and white film. This photo reminds me of his work because he loved to capture the emotion and expression of his subjects. 

This coming week is going to be a busy work week. I have a lot of catching up to do, great events to write about and I'd love to tell you how my first night away from Jethro went! I slept like the dead (this is a good thing). Everyone survived. 

City Circus | Seek Justice

I did not imagine when I started blogging at Elasticpantcity 2 1/2 years ago that my little piece of the WWW would land me at a round table discussion with the Premier of British Columbia. A couple weeks ago I received an invitation from Pamela Martin, former CTV news anchor and current director of outreach to Christy Clark to attend a round table discussion with The Premier about issues that concern mom's in our province. I was humbled to be invited and nervous that I wouldn't have anything to contribute to the dialogue. For one thing, I primarily write about the everyday activities of our family and politics doesn't really come up in the nitty gritty details of our life. I also write about fashion, not exactly a meaty dialogue topic related to issues concerning British Columbians. 

I spent a few nights researching government issues and kept coming back to an organization I have recently become involved with. Educating Voices is an advocacy group for formerly prostituted women or women who are in the process of exiting prostitution. Educating Voices petitions the government to adopt the Nordic Model of Law regarding prostitution rather than legalizing or decriminalizing it. This model of law is based on the recognition that prostitution is a form of sexual exploitation and violence. It penalizes the buyers of sex (johns, pimps), while decriminalizing those who are being sold. 

If this topic interests you and you want to be a voice of advocacy for exploited women I recommend you check out the Educating Voices site for more information. When it came to my turn to speak at the round table with The Premier, I brought up the provincial tax cuts to the exiting programs that provide a safe transition out of prostitution. Since so many of these prostituted women are moms trying to support their families and Christy Clark is promoting the slogan, Christy Clark For Families, I thought it was an appropriate topic to bring up. After all if the government is going to be for families, it should be for all families. 

This was my most recent foray into politics. The last time I was politically active was in university when I participated in peace marches and cried over the bombing of Iraq. I do not align myself with one party in particular at the moment but hope that when it comes to the next election, I will be able to make an educated decision on who to vote for without compromising my conscience. 

"Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause."

-Isaiah 1:17

Mommy Musings | Lesson Learned

Last night I watched a 12 minute YouTube video on a DIY boy's haircut. Using my expert knowledge I preceded to put Levi in a high chair, a towel around his neck, and with a blunt pair of scissors I began to cut his hair. About a 1/4 of the way through I realized I had no idea what I was doing. I then called for the buzzer and slowly started clipping away the job I had started. What was a bad hair cut turned into an under cut and the end result is hipster meets horrible hair dresser. But he's three, so he doesn't care, right? Also He's a handsome little guy and some how pulls it off. Naturally I decided to cut his hair right before his first set of passport photos.

The bangs aren't as crooked as they look. I swear.

Today we made up for yesterday's not-so-fun activity with a trip to Southlands Heritage Farm where one of our friend's works. She gave us a guided tour of the lands and I was reminded again that if I didn't live in the city, I'd be happy to live on a farm. Southlands Farm is within Vancouver city limits so it is possible to have the best of both worlds.  

Levi was very uncertain about feeding the horses. 

Jethro was curious about the animals until a horse bent down it's head to sniff him, knocking him off his feet. Oops. 

Levi was much happier feeding the goats. I'm guessing it had something to do with a height advantage.

If this face doesn't make you laugh....

I think Jet might have been trying to escape the whole time. What is this place?