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Ayla’s Neon Toes

Weekend Highlights

My favorite moments of this weekend are split evenly between events on both Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday we spent a wonderful day being spoiled by Mama S’ mom, the kids’ Nana. She took us mamas and The Noodle out for lunch in the afternoon while the girls were at Muslim school, and then treated all of us to pedicures once the girls returned home! I haven’t had a pro give me a pedi since well before my pregnancy, and the girls had never had one at all, so it was a wonderful treat.

On Sunday we spent the whole day working together to continue with packing up the kitchen. Even the kids helped. We then enjoyed dinner together on our roof top patio. I think this space has been sorely underused in our time here. H & A build themselves an eating fort out of the awesome fort building kit they got for Christmas. This fort kit is one of the girls most-used toys. It’s a simple box of sticks that fit into little balls, and you build a structure that you then lay a sheet over. Mama S shot some beautiful pics of our happy monkeys with their dad.

One of my favorite pictures ever.

VIP Tasks this Week

The Yard Sale!
Getting ready for Saturday’s yard sale is at the top of the list this week.

I need to finish purging the rest of the house to see what else we can sell

I also need to sort and price all of our items for sale, and take stock of everything we have to sell to decide how to lay it all out

I need to list the yard sale various places online. Where do people look for yard sale information?

It will be great help to have the girls making signs, pricing toys, designing lemonade stands, etc.

Maybe Mama S can bake her killer chocolate chip cookies to sell too!

Oh, and Daddy could build a cheery yard sale play list to attract customers.

We need to remind the neighbours that they very kindly are lending us their driveway, and we need to get them a parking pass.

I’ll need to hit the bank for change and small bills.

Yard sale people, what am I forgetting here??

Personal Goals

I want to get as much packing done as I can with a rambunctious baby who just wants to crawl and climb on everything, plus two little girls who may be good helpers, or may decide to try to kill each other.

I want to try to manage the incredible stress of moving with humor and grace. This is going to continue to be very challenging, I think.

I want to continue to post every day! You can’t imagine how hard this can be! I’m so grateful that my partners are so supportive and happy to wrangle Noah as required to help me carve out some writing time. I think I’m getting to the point where I’m going to need to map out posts ahead of time and just write in chunks to make sure the week is covered off. That in itself is very exciting.

Things to Look Forward To

Hanging With the Girls!

It’s their first week off from school, and I’d like to have some fun in the midst of all the hard work we have ahead. I’m sure there’s some emotional impact from leaving their friends behind and from watching us pack up their home (even though they seem relatively okay), so I need to keep that in mind, and tend to it accordingly. I think we’ll hit the JCC pool, Dufferin Grove Park, Smock, and probably our neighbourhood park before the week is done.

Patrick Watson!

Free concert on Thursday night for the Luminato festival! Now we just have to decide whether or not to bring the kids. I think it would be awesome to take them, and the stage is outdoors. Details are here for those of you who are fans.

The Yard Sale!

This could be super stressful, but I think it will likely be super fun if I can keep my head on straight. Usually the secret to my Zen state is to have the Noodle with me. Looks like I’ll be wearing him a lot that day, though Grandmere will be on hand to help too. Things really get done when the grandmas are around.

Happy Birthday Henry Hind!

I can’t believe that it’s been a whole year already since one of my besties had his first kid. We’re going to head from the yard sale to the birthday party on Saturday with the last ounce of energy left. They have a beautiful backyard, so it will be a great chance for the kids to blow off some steam after the yard sale.

How does your week look? I hope it’s productive, and filled with opportunities for fun and great photo ops. I’m always saved by list-making and planning ahead, and I’ve learned to add some me time to the to-do list too. I hope it’s a beautiful week!

Kisses on your nose,

Mommy

A wall of cardboard boxes at the end of a bed.

I’m hiding behind these to write. It looks like I’m packing!

This week we were consumed with wrapping up school and packing up the juggernaut that is our kitchen. Both of these tasks have made me cry. I’m feeling very sad to leave our lovely, warm Waldorf community, and I hate moving so much I want to click my heels and reappear some time in mid-July.

Last night I had a dream that I tripped going down our stairs and broke my ankle, and was therefore exempt from any further packing, sorting, or organizing. This was not a nightmare. Not at all.

There were a few choice items that we reserved while packing the kitchen. Items that I am certain will save us (me) from the stress of moving. Behold, my list of moving survival items that you really shouldn’t pack:

The coffee grinder, kettle, coffee press and moka pot. My children are nine years, seven years and eight months old and all three of them know not to ask Mama C any questions before she’s had her morning coffee. There is no possible way I could face the wall of boxes that is our new home décor feature without a serious java injection.

The Blendtec blender. Seriously the best blender ever made, and worth every penny. We use it every day for Kale shakes, baby food, and frosty beverages. I don’t think we would know what to do without it anymore. Our little universe would collapse upon itself and it would be coarse and chunky instead of smooth, so smooth.

The popsicle freezer mold. You know what keeps ramped up children occupied happily outside for several minutes? Something frozen on a stick. We like to make our own popsicles and creamsicles using pure fruit juices, blended frozen fruit, yogurt and/or cream. I would be lying if I said these were only for the kids.

The bottle opener. This is for beer or wine as needed. We require beer, in particular, on a daily basis these days, but I’m being a very responsible mama and drinking only gluten-free beer.

The wine vacuum pump and stoppers. Please see above. Hello? Sangria anyone?? Oooohh, Sangria POPSICLES! I’m a GENIUS!

The muddler. Because it’s mojito season. These would also make fan-freaking-tastic popsicles. I think we better get another freezer mold.

The entire contents of the candy basket. There seems to be an unspoken agreement between the grown ups to end each day by working through the contents of this basket while watching The Walking Dead.

The jug of popcorn. Daddy just knew not to send this along to the Niagara house. The Mamas may have a small popcorn addiction.

Paper plates and plastic cutlery. We’re going to be eating a lot of finger foods here on in, and soon we won’t even have room to open our dishwasher drawer. It’s not the most environmentally conscious choice, but the alternative is to really put the mental in environmental.

The Ibuprofen. Self-explanatory.

First aid kit. If I’m using any kind of sharp edge while taping up boxes, we will put the first aid kit to use, mark my words.

The take out menus for Thai, pizza, and sushi. I think that we’ll get through the rest of the contents of our fridge/freezer in a week, which leaves another week of eating before our moving date. Why should I cook when delicious take-out is just a phone call away?

Garbage bags. At this point, I’d like to put everything in them, leave them on the curb and be done with it all. Did I mention that I hate moving?

Friends, I need your super easy dinner solutions! Please comment here with recipes and ideas, particularly for kid-friendly gluten-free options.

Also, what are the few kitchen items you couldn’t live without leading up to the final days of getting ready to move?

Mommy’s To-Do List – Week of June 17

Moving Survival Kit