In our Element: Inspiration for Future Projects

Several years ago, I read a book called "The Element: How Finding your Passion Changes Everything."  It was a book that changed my life forever, one that probably led to ending my career as a teacher with the ambition of staying home with my children and finding a new place in the world, whatever that might be. 

It has meant that I have tried my hand a few different things, in a few different places and have met some really fascinating people along the way.  Most of those people are women like myself who are on the same adventure of juggling life with littles (often at home) with a career or other philanthropic ambitions. 

The Element talks about finding "your tribe" a group of like-minded people with whom you share a passion, and with whom, when your ideas are combined, the sum of which is much greater than each individual's vision.  Ideas fire off and multiply and take on a life of their own. 

I have experienced that feeling twice before and then again last night with some women from our mother's group.  Last night a small group of us spent time painting pottery at local "All Fired Up" on Bloor West (and later moved to a pub down the street for tea and desserts) while being inspired by each others' visions for future projects/adventures/creations.  I came home last night with my head full of ideas, and feeling so inspired, I wondered how I would ever sleep.  Cannot wait to connect again and start putting some of these adventures to life!

The Backyard Rink.

We must be among the very few Torontarians who are actually excited it is January and the temperature has dropped.  In fact, as the sun goes down and the children are in bed, we get all excited when we see that it is supposed to be -12 degrees Celsius or colder.  It's almost like a competition; will tonight be colder than it was last night?  Ok, so is that totally weird or what?  But you see, we've been working on a little project in our backyard, one that started back in September when my parents were here visiting.

And it's finally cold enough that we have managed to put down a fine layer of ice on our backyard skating rink.  It's been a total make-work project, with me on day-shift and Jordan on evenings, pulling the garden hose in and out of our bedroom window to water the rink before a good freeze overnight.  Which isn't so bad, if you don't mind sleeping with a garden hose coiled on the floor of your bedroom or spending a small fortune on your water bill over the winter.

But we have spent a ton of time out there already.  In fact, Gabriel and I spent a good hour the first day and when he didn't want to come in, he spent another hour out there honing his skating skills.  And today, a total of four hours! 

Jordan and Gabriel skated around and around swatting the puck back and forth to each other all morning and then later in the afternoon.  It's anyone's guess who is having the most fun.  But Jordan sure has an ear to ear smile.  We've been enjoying watching the boys, but had to get out there and enjoy it too. 

As Gabriel pulled Magdalene around in the sled with a hockey stick in one hand and the pull for the sled in the other, we were all laughing and smiling and enjoying ourselves immensely in this little backyard creation of ours.   Jordan and I both had this moment when our eyes met and I'm sure we were thinking roughly the same thing.  It's pretty hard to beat a moment like this. 

So maybe it's cold out there and people are wishing for spring.  But for now, we are hoping it will stay cold just a little bit longer!  If you aren't loving the cold so much, you'll just have to swing by for a little skate, some hot cocoa and a little fire to warm you up!

You might also like:

• Hockey Night. In our Basement.
• Homemade Hockey Sticks and Indoor Rinks.
• Baby it's Cold Outside.

Baseball, Airplanes and some new projects!

Ok, the blog seems to have taken a bit of a backburner temporarily and I apologize!  We've got a couple of big projects on the go (as some of you may have picked up on lately.  More on that later). 
 
A couple of weeks ago my parents were here.  And just in time too because we were missing them and I personally was just needing a little bit of a reprieve.  I know that my parents miss our children so much when they aren't around.  Skype just isn't enough and sometimes those periods between visits really lag on for them.  But the wonderful thing about Gabriel being two and half is that now he remembers them between visits.  Skype does help and pictures do too. Magdalene of course, doesn't remember them but that will come in time.

We had a pretty full week between Pirate Day, apple picking, visiting the Junction, and various other exciting projects we have going on around here--one which my dad started and another of my own.  But we still managed to find plenty of time to hang around the house.  My dad introduced the "paper airplane" to Gabriel (as yet another outlet for all of the throwing going on in this house).  My neighbors now have a whole plethora of paper airplanes in their yards that we have to periodically retrieve.  And every piece of paper from Gabriel's school comes home a little crumpled as his teachers tell me he was trying to make a plane.  Oh dear, what did we start?  Sigh.

Always the helpful brother, trying to feed his sister... somewhat successfully....

We had some good baseball fun in the yard too with Bumpa showing Gabriel some new tricks like throwing a ball behind his back and up over his shoulder to catch it.  Oh Dad, always a few tricks up his sleeves.  My parents sure got a workout while they were here, rolling around in the backyard (yes, rolling) and running along the trail behind our house playing Hide-and-Seek.  Gabriel would shout out "Nana's turn, Bumpa's turn, Mama's turn" and we would take off at full speed, trying to outrun him and find a quick spot to hide.  If we found a really good one, Gabriel would choose to hide there too, shouting with great enthusiasm, "I find a-ME!!"   Oh, you are a clever boy, aren't you.  He keeps us laughing for sure.

Bumpa did his usual repairs while Nana cooked and baked, etc.   And of course, Gabriel had to help at every point, lugging lumber around the yard and taking off with Bumpa's tools or eating handfuls of cookie dough when Nana turned her back.  One day, Gabriel accidentally broke his sunglasses.  "Oh, oh.  Glasses broken.  Fix at home.  Bumpa fix it."  He knows who does all the repairs around here, that's for sure.  We save them up for the next time Bumpa visits.  And really, we only get to eat muffins when Nana comes. 

A great visit to be sure.  Magdalene really bonded with her Nana, even if she wasn't quite sure what to make of Bumpa.  It was great to have my parents around and really exciting too because they started the ball rolling on some new ventures!  Stay tuned!

You Might Also Like:

• Apples!
• Pirates, We be Six.
• Day Trip to Toronto Island.
• Where the Magnolias bloom.
• Afternoon Tea with My Mother.
• Family Skate Date.