A Mother's Love

I have been thinking a lot lately about the last five years since we moved to Canada.  I can't believe how fast the kids have grown.  You hear people tell you about this all the time, but it truly takes your breath away how fast they grow up, especially when they start going to school.  Before I know it, Luca and Ella won't need me the way they do now and that makes me a little sad and desperate to hold on to all that is happening around me. I think as parents to infants and toddlers, we are so busy being overwhelmed, exhausted, sometimes downright defeated, that we don't stop and really watch our children grow, jump in and play, hug them a little bit more "just because" and most importantly, take a deep breath and enjoy these moments while we have them.  They are only young for so long…we blink and it's gone.

With Luca, I feel like his first year was a blur.  I was new to this parenting gig, getting lots of unsolicited advice, dealing with a child being born the first week of the NHL schedule, not having friends and family near by to help….overwhelmed with a capital "O".  Three years later and a whole lot wiser, Ella arrived and I have watched every step she has taken. I could listen to her for hours as she speaks gibberish, hoping to catch her next word spoken in the english language.  I give her what seems like a million kisses and hugs a day and an "I love you" to go with each one. We play and laugh endlessly and I opt to push aside anything else that needs to be done (and a laundry room filled with dirty clothes to prove it). I take time for Mommy dates with Luca, play board games and read him bedtime stories. I have noticed that we as parents get the most stressed when we are trying to do too much around our children, instead of just being with our children. I too am guilty of this at times.  But I once heard these wise words, long before I had kids and just an obnoxiously busy job that I sold my soul to.  "We all have the same 24 hours in our day, and it's up to you to decide how to use them".  I don't want to miss a second with these kids.

Still enjoy our Red Sox games!

I had a great childhood.  I remember my days growing up in Rhode Island very fondly.  Such an special place to spend the first 16 years of my life.  My parent's had to stretch the dollar when we were young kids, but you would have never known it.  My Dad was working hard to stay in the NHL to afford a family of five, which required him to be away during the hockey season.  In order to keep a "normal" life, my parents decided to make Rhode Island home base and stop moving around with my father's job.  My parents always made sure we had a special family trip when my Dad came back home for the summer months.  I laugh when I think about the vacations we took by car, packed in like sardines in my father's Grand Prix (I sat on the arm rest between my Dad and brother).  I remember the Pawtucket Red Sox games and of course that big trip to Fenway each summer with just my Dad.  We still laugh thinking back to how we had fun on a Friday night during the winter months.  My Mom and her best friend (a.k.a Anna Banana) would take us to Dragon Villa to share a "pu pu platter" (a mountain of Chinese appetizers) then head over to CVS to read funny Hallmark cards, getting home in time for Dallas and Falcon Crest. All of you living in the 80's know what I'm talking about.  We even had bets how many times Angela Channing would change her outfit each episode. We knew how to have a good time.

I remember the most amazing holidays and birthday's growing up.  My father, who worked in Canada on the West Coast, would fly in every year on Christmas Eve to the East Coast and stay for two days.  I never realized how difficult that must have been till I married someone that works in hockey.  My father never missed a Christmas.  He always brought home a bag of Canadian chocolate bars for our stockings.  My Dad would not be allowed in the house without those chocolate bars.  The stockings were filled to the brim and placed at the end of our beds (well past the age it probably should have stopped).  Birthdays were not any different.  My Mom made each one shine and to this day my Dad calls me to sing.  My Mom would bake a fabulous cake each year and put coins in them wrapped in wax paper.  My friends growing up still talk about this.  What my Mom did for us kids on her own…I can't even begin to thank her.  She never made us feel like we were without.  We were always rich with love.

The inseparable sisters - I would say age 6 and 4

I talk to my Mom several times a week.  I think it's what daughter's and Mother's do. We laugh about the kids and the similarities Luca and I have when it comes to endless talking.  My Mom listened to every word I said growing up….still does.  I never feel rushed, unimportant or bothersome.  She is sometimes the only person I truly feel I can talk to without reservation.  My poor mother would take me on my paper route as a kid and I would tell her about my day from the time school started to the end of the day.  I would be running a paper up to a house and still be talking, loud enough so she could hear me at the curb.  I remember the smile on her face and the giggles. She was so patient - she might have had ear plugs in, but she never made me feel like I was taking up her time.  My Mom was honestly born to have kids.  She did not have big career aspirations growing up…she wanted to be a Mom. I have come to learn that this is the toughest and best job there is and realize, more now as a Mom, what she did for us.  I always knew, but now I understand the emotions that she took on with loving all five of us, hurting for us, cheering for us, worrying for us….with us. She never missed a moment. I can only hope to be the same amazing Mom to Luca and Ella.

I am so blessed.

Mother/daughter trip to Paris - 2007

RECIPE TIME!!!

I have recently become obsessed with green smoothies.  I do not care for veggies, unlike my husband who grew up in his father's garden.  Dom will graze on a huge bowl of salad that usually serves four, the same way I will graze on a batch of cookies. These shakes help you get the veggies you may not be fitting into your diet, but need to stay healthy. Great for the kiddos too!  If they won't drink it, put them into popsicle molds and freeze them! 

Great website for more green smoothie recipes and inspiration: www.simplegreensmoothies.com

GINGER GREEN SMOOTHIE (serves 4)
2 cups of frozen mixed berries
1/2 cup frozen pineapple
1/2 avocado, 
1 stalk of celery
1- 10 cm/4 inch. piece of broccoli stem
2 cups kale and spinach
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 cup water (add more if needed)
1 knob off a ginger root (5 cm/2 inches or so)

Blend the spinach, broccoli stem and the almond milk until smooth.  Next add the remaining fruits and blend again.

TROPICAL GREEN SMOOTHIE (serves 4)
1/2 Avocado
1 Apple
1 Pear
2 cups of frozen mixed fruit blend
1 carrot
1 stalk of celery
1/4 cucumber
1 cup of coconut milk beverage (unsweetened)
1 cup of water

Blend the celery, cucumber, carrot and coconut milk beverage until smooth.  Next add the remaining fruits and water blend again.

STRAWBERRY AND MINT POPSICLES
1 1/2 cups of spinach, fresh
1/2 cup chopped mint, fresh
1/4 cup coconut milk, unsweetened
16 ounce frozen bag of strawberries, defrosted
1/4 cup of date syrup or honey

Blend spinach, mint and coconut milk until smooth.  Next add the fruits and blend again.  Pour smoothie into popsicle molds and freeze.  When ready to eat, run cool water over popsicle holds, so pops slide right out.