perfect days

I have had the absolutely most perfect mommy day. I really want to share it because, well, it can't be all shit right? These are the days that make it all worthwhile - all magical.

Shane is away. Funny. The perfect days often happen without him. I'm not sure if that is a result of or in spite of. Anyway he's off doing a bootcamp in seattle. Not the excercise kind - that would be funny - he's leading a bootcamp in enrollment marketing for post-secondary schools. We live an easier life without him. I find myself saying to my four kids "we're all alone tonight!" One person down out of six makes us all alone. Believe me i see the irony.

Not only did i take parker and eliza out for lunch, we all went out for dinner. Donairs! Yum. Smelly house tonight.

To backtrack, (i want to take my time here which is hard for me) after school we came home and it started to snow. Giant golfball size snowflakes. As it started to stick i told the kids that we had better go out and get supplies. Make sure the fridge was stocked because last year we were snowed in for five days without electricity. Living in an area with so many trees we often lose power for long periods during stormy weather.

So we headed off to the laughable "city" of duncan and bought some groceries and the all-important science fair stuff.

To explain that, the kids have a science fair next week and tristan is doing a project on the effects of different types of feed on the colour of egg yolks in our chickens. All cool and fun, except that with the cold weather our hens have been sporadic layers.

Then we went for the kids favourite dinner - donairs. Anything that doesn't involve the requisite kids meal of nuggets and fries is good to me, especially when parker and eliza had that for lunch. So, no dishes and cooking - twice in one day. Awesome!

When we came home the snow had sadly stopped and left behind lots and lots of ice. Tristan and i atempted to find all the chickens and put them to bed. You see, snow? It freaks the hens out. They just stop in their tracks when it starts and if night happens to fall? They go to sleep. Right there. In the woods, in the way of the car, on the little tykes cozy coupe, on the compost pile, on the trampoline. You get the idea.

Then, as it is survivor night, the night that tristan stays up late and we snuggle and laugh and share chocolate and generally catch up on where my oldest daughter is. It's not much. but it has been our night for many years now. Toby really wants in on it but we find all kinds of ways to trick him into sleep on thursday nights. We tried to get everyone to bed before 8:00.

Tonight all the kids, as we do when shane's away, are sleeping in my room. We all laid down together and i told them a story of the family with four kids; oldest, oldest middle, youngest middle and youngest, and how they drive their mom crazy and how she loves them even though they are smelly and dirty and whine and cry because they are wonderful and beautiful and perfect and joyful.

As i was telling the story, squished in between oldest (tristan) and youngest (parker), tristan rubbed my back. I tell you i was in pure blissfull heaven. Surrounded by loving children; and my daughter who knows me so well, starts rubbing my back. Perfect.

And so we watched survivor and shared forbidden nutty chocolates and now they are all asleep and i am blissfully alone enjoying some yellow tail merlot.

Which reminds me of one last thing. I've been cheating on you! I have another blog with my only friend! Christle all about wine and beer and, for now, the search for good wine under $15. You can find it here!