Catching Up

It's been a long time since I blogger, and now it's time to catch-up. Good thing I kept sending draft postings that I can use now to fill in the last 8 months. Kids are good. We're half way through the summer, heading towards grade 2 and 3rd year casa. Hard to believe they are as big as they are. Here's a snapshot of today: They woke up at some point, not sure when because they went downstairs to watch TV by themselves, they had breakfast with Marc and then we did legos. Multiple floor structures, a helicopter landing pad with an elevator and a "Gargamel" on the tower like the Smurfs. Matthew and Renee build their own while I built with Samuel. Sounds lovely, and it was but it was preceded by lots of "Mami, you come with me", "you always go to ___ first", "you never help me", "MAMI", etc. Once we all got in the same room, we were good, but getting there wasn't easy. The kids and I went swimming while Marc went grocery shopping. Lots of jumping, swaying on noodles, a swim to the deep end or two with Samuel who doesn't need to wear a life jacket anymore. Renee stayed where she could stand, life jacket and all. Matthew swam, jumped and dived with his lifejacket, with near-perfect form. After lunch, we did more lego, went swimming again but with Marc this time. After swimming the kids all showered with relatively little help from us. In a perfect demonstration of the differences between them, while I was blow drying Renee's hair (my only possible contribution to her desire to have it straight), Matthew came in with a bloody nose from his "i kicked myself on the nose when i landed on the floor after my dive, tumble, seat drop, summer sault, but i wasn't jumping on the bed". On to watching Star Wars while I made their requested dinner of pasta with smiked salmon in a rose sauce. They got very restless during the movie so we went out to ride bikes. The boys had a blast, Renee struggled and came home after one turn around the block. And just before you think "they sound so grown up", they were mesmerized by Treehouse TV. Boys fell asleep easily with scratching their backs, telling stories and singing songs. Renee regaled the difficulties of her life and why tonight was the worst ever, why no one ever sleeps with her, and why she hates me (all due to me saying, lie down on your pillow), as soon as Matthew fell asleep, she came to cuddle. A relatively typical bedtime. Keep your eyes open for back-dated posts and pictures.