They say that after seven years together, couples get the seven year itch.

_______________

Tonight. Girls in a MOOD. Post-weekend crabiness. Lucy got a time out for *ppplbt*ing at me after I told her to stop colouring for dinner. Alice grabbed at the hot stove, emptied three kitchen drawers and pitched the HUGEST tantrum (at my feet in front of said hot stove among the contents of said drawers) when I refused to dole out another cup of milk.

(Now I’M in a mood. And yelly.)

I call Eric my wind of calm. He arrives home from work, and the chaos almost instantly alleviates. The girls are distracted by him, there’s one more set of hands to headlock handle dinner battles, and his patience is fresh from his drive home…and untainted by 1.5 hours of 2-under-5 (years)-around-5 (p.m.) drama.

We get through the girls’ dinner. We go see my new office space, yelling at each other over Lucy and Alice screeching, giggling, tripping and throwing drywall dust in the air. We grab Thai as a treat to eat after the girls are in bed.

And when they are, we literally collapse on the couch, plates on our lap, to watch some trashy TV. We grin in the triumph of silence.
________________________

He calls me a donkey. I pretend to stab his ear with kitchen scissors. He makes fun of my canning (“Glad we’re all stocked for the long, harsh winter with our NINE JARS OF RELISH AND PICKLES.”) and I his taste (“How can you tell if that melon is rotten when your claim to fame is once eating sour milk on cereal for three days?“).

We like to wrestle. He hates spit so I always lick him and win.

_________________________

Seven years ago at this time, we were tipsy on love, Jackson Triggs dry white wine, and the most perfect wedding ever surrounded by family and friends.

My Eric: Thanks for keeping all my itches scratched. Happy anniversary.

We rested and relaxed and ate and hardly left the beach and visited Wiarton Willie and bought new shoes and watched a ton of movies and made a ton of memories.

I cried when we left.

But it’s oh so good to be home.

WATER! SAND! TOYS!

Gratuitious husband shot (new swim trunks!)

Alice spent the entire week plotting ways to run away from us. Frequently she was returned like this.

We spent each day during Alice's nap watching movies. Our favourites: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and Up!

Next year both girls will be in the bunk beds (deargod how did that happen?), so we let Lucy practice being on the top on our last day.

Fresh corn from our famer's market bought before we left.

Spencer snuggles

Ingredients for a successful camp fire.

Eric says that the cottage always knows when it's your last night, and gives you the best weather. The water was spectacularly warm and calm for Lucy's late night dip.

Random blast from the past: Did I ever tell you I got a bit tipsy with Mike Duffy one time?

• New week, new site! Check out our guest columnist as she asks, Is sleep training right for you? and another foodblog post from a busy mom of four who has discovered an amazingly quick recipe for homemade bread. T’was a busy work weekend
• Speaking of workworkwork: It’s a busy one, with lots of site updates to do, a Father’s Day newsletter, Uxbridge Town Talk selling, writing and more. All in three days. Any idea how to add more hours to the day? Can you imagine how popular you’d be if you figured out how to do this?
• Speaking of my magazine, we have a GREAT contest going on I’ve been meaning to share: Enter to win a set of 50 personalized Mommy cards from the UPS Store in Uxbridge. Ian has super cute designs, and will add your name, email, kids’ names etc. to leave with other parents you meet. Click here to enter
• Speaking of Uxbridge, I’m a member of the local Optimist Club. This coming Saturday is our 17th annual Duck Derby, where we race 3,000 little rubber duckies down a stream, plus host a free family fun day with face painting, entertainment, jumping castle, food and more. We raise funds for kids in town by selling tickets for the race, and I’d love any support you could give. You can easily purchase online, with details and more at www.uxbridgeduckderby.com
• Speaking of the Duck Derby, I have to deliver almost 1,000 colouring contest sheets to the schools in town today, and was going to have to bring Lucy along. The Sick — our ever-present friend since before Christmas — hit us yet again in the form of pink eye in Lucy. We have yet to have a month of illness-free living in I can’t even remember how long. I try to be optimistic — build up stronger immune systems! more time together as a family! — but seriously…enough already. It’s wearing us down
• Speaking of wearing, did you see over there on my sidebar that this coming weekend is MIDNIGHT MADNESS at Once Upon a Child? Both the Ajax and Whitby stores have huge sales on!
• Speaking of sales, I did some leg work the other week and called every mulch supplier within a 30 km radius of us and got a great deal on a huge load of cedar mulch. The girls had a blast watching the truck arrive and dump the sweet-smelling pile on the driveway. Alice jabbered the whole time, pointing, while Lucy plugged her ears and shouted with glee
• Speaking of glee, it’s the season finale of one of my fave shows tomorrow. Anyone else excited? Any who’s ready for Big Brother July 8?!
• Speaking of brothers, Eric’s brother and his wife are expecting, and we recently found out they’re having…a boy! So excited to be an aunt, and welcome a little man into our world of pink
• Speaking of pink, I’ll leave you with some pink and blue LOUD children — this is my secret weapon when I need to get work done in kitchen and Eric isn’t home. Tupperware, measuring spoons and plastic cups are great, too (who needs toys?!)

Eric’s Mom — who turned 60 last weekend! Wish her happy birthday! — has saved a ton of Eric and his brother, Mark’s old toys. Pound Puppies, Smurfs, vintage Fisher Price phone and farm, Hot Wheels garage. The house literally sings with all the ding, ding, ding! clack-clack-clack! and whir-whir-whir when we visit.

Lucy and Alice now have special toys at Gramies, and the boys love the trip down memory lane. I love how choking hazard some of them are. And admiring the quality difference between what’s being made now. These toys had metal! And wood! So the metal and wood probably had lead.

They’re still damn cool.

So much to share and do, I’m a bit overwhelmed. Coupled by the fact it’s SO hard to accomplish anything the day back after a long weekend (which started on Thursday for us!), isn’t it?

So here’s a bunch of random…stuff.

Lucy and I have matching toe nails

Instants: Press buttons and hear funny noises! Chewbacca and Yeeeah! and Youarepirate are among my faves. Thanks to Jen O. for the link. Jen polluted the air all weekend with hot dog fumes.

Archie Comics on Facebook: Why I waited so long to join that page is beyond me.

My sister is traveling right now, and I feel lost without her on Google chat.

Shit My Kids Ruined: Peanut butter handprints. Microwaved Thomas the Tank Engine. Paint can down the carpeted stairs. Best site EVER.

Smashed Ontario red potatoes with olive oil, sea salt, pepper and parmeasan cheese. I'm launching a food section on the site this week!

Bunny in a hole! The highlight of Friday's zoo trip, according to Alice.

Knock-Off Wood: From a SAHM with expensive tastes and no money comes a HUGELY popular site of step-by-step directions to make a plethora of wood furniture. Absolutely amazing. And free!

Ugliest Tattoos — Gallery of Regrets: The Internet’s most hilarious and stupid tattoos.

This weekend I ate (chicken) sausage on a bun for the first time. Why didn’t any of you force me to do this YEARS ago? Slathered in ketchup, sweet-with-heat mustard and relish? Deeeelish.

They did this all weekend. *swoon!*

Monday afternoon. We were both in heaven. Don't judge.

Failbook: Funny Facebook status messages.

In a half hour, I have to pick up Lucy for a hair cut. Then we zip across town to pick up Alice. Home for a quick dinner. Eric arrives to take Lucy to ballet, while I stay with Alice and get her to bed. At 7:30 p.m. 10 people from my volunteer group arrive for a meeting.

My best girl friends and I are headed to the family cottage in just four weeks. I think a countdown is in order, hmmmm?

Alice is THE most affectionate baby. She hugged everyone all weekend long. I drank from that personalized glass (courtesy of this fine lady) all weekend long. T’was good times.

Alice blinks and smiles when she sees the camera. Lucy was distracted by, oh, fluff, probably. I was trying to see out my diva sun hat. Eric is...amused. Family Photo May 2010!