Pyramids, Pharaohs and The Bishops: Canadian Mother's Day in Egypt

Mother's Day. A day to celebrate your mom. My mom is pretty great. We loved every moment of our recent visit with mama (aka Grandma). It is hard to be away on a day like today.

Everything that I am today is because of who my mom and dad taught me to be. My mom was a patient (even though I tested every ounce of that patience), loving and caring (sleeping on the couch until I came home, just to know that I was okay) mom who was always there to hear about my day. For those of you that know me well, I can talk endlessly about what went well in my day, and what went poorly. Then of course I problem solve what could have been done better. My mom was always there to listen to me solve my problems.

(Now, dad, don't be jealous...you will get a tribute of your own in June!)

Now that I am a mom myself, I try to employ many of the methods that my mother use with us. Especially the concept of listening to everything, all the time, even when it does not appear to be important.

My mom...

My Mom and her girls...hanging out at the Great Pyramid of Giza

Princess is me. She has many physical features that resemble me, but more than that, she has my personality. She is stubborn, affectionate, and a chatterbox. She can tell a story about everything. She asks questions about everything. I learned from my mom that it is important to listen to EVERYTHING that she has to say. Everything to her now is a big thing that deserves to be shared. If she knows that I will sit and listen to her `big stuff`` now, then, I hope, she will share the `big stuff`` with me when she is 16. Sometimes we butt heads because we are so similar. Today, I was particularly frustrated to find the curtain in their room beautifully colored purple. We washed the curtain, but, it is ruined. I am sure she had good intentions, just not well thought out.

Dimples is daddy. He is introspective, reflective and thoughtful. He does not often share his opinion and he is HILARIOUS. Perhaps daddy will do a tribute to his son on Father`s Day. But, it fascinates me to watch the two kids grow up together. Their personalities are incredibly different and they are both truly amazing children. I often look forward to what they will be like when they are older, but, then, I know I will miss the way they are now. Every ounce of their cuteness makes me smile.

Today however, I have been reflecting on the past year. A lot has happened in a year. In a year, the kids have changed A LOT! That is the biggest change that I can see. (Other then us moving half a world away). Below you will see pictures of the kids from when we left Canada in June, to this week. They have both grown incredibly (Princess especially - she has grown almost a foot) and their skills, vocabulary and personalities have grown too. Today, as I watched Dimples cruise down the 3 flights of stairs at the school, without holding the rail, I realized that he was still crawling down the stairs backwards when we first got here. How things change!