I need some help here. my partner comes from a pretty fractured family. His mom is mohawk, adopted into a white family and herself 'passes' as white intentionally. His father is metis, irish and rom, but is not interested in talking about anything but the irish side. Our relationship with them is tenuous so I don't feel comfortable talking to them about this and either does mr sauce. Mr sauce identifies as 'a mix' but doesn't go into it much more than that.

I live in a crazy neighborhood. I'm a real 'people watcher' so I get endless enjoyment out of witnessing all sorts of interesting things go down. The latest:

1. A hearse getting a boost from another car with jumper cables. In front of the church during a funeral.

2. Three 'ladies of the evening' sharing a bucket of chicken in the parking lot. They were all really enjoying that chicken, while smoking after a long night of work.

As pathetic as this is, something I really look forward to throughout the week is being able to go to the bathroom and take a dump on my own with no interruption or intrusion from my children on Saturday mornings. Mr Sauce is home to make breakfast and care for the children while I poop. One of the hardest things for me about having little kids is the lack of personal physical space, it always seems like someone is touching me, hanging off me and generally demanding 100% of my attention. Last night both the kids slept beside me and I woke up feeling claustrophobic and hostile.

...and I know this because she is telling me through my bread machine.

this morning I woke up at 7:50 am, the exact same time the saucette was born exactly a year ago. in the same room she was born. i nursed her and we got up, she pointed to the exact spot on the floor where she came into the world and said "baby!". it was magic.

so this past year I have been re-learning how to drive. I am not really enjoying it too much, but I will be glad to have my drivers license again and it will be handy to take the kids out to the country whenever I want.

Early this morning I got up with the Saucette, raring to go at 6:20 am. We were sitting on the couch playing 'where's your nose' when all of a sudden she stuck her tiny finger right up my nose really high up and scratches with her razor sharp baby fingernail. Hurt like dickens and my nose started bleeding all over the place. Later in the day I am reading Sauce jr a story and he throws his head back in hilarity (we were reading his all time favorite book 'Super Diaper Baby'. Check it out it is hilarious)and slams his big old kid skull right into my mouth.

I didn't bike far today, but here is a pic of me on my ride with both kids, swim bag and a picnic in the trailer.

we went to the sprinkler park and back which is a 7 minute ride.

one or two shots from my messy garden.

my little salad garden:

you can sort of see my scarlet runner beans in the backround.

some calendula, a columbine and some sugar snap peas:

we all do. we live in a culture that celebrates violence and aggressive behavior. I could list some examples like war, pro sports, movies and tv, of course video games. Over and over again we get the message that violence solves problems even though we have multiple experiences that tell us this isn't true. Most of us were spanked as kids and there was a time not that long ago that if you didn't spank your kids you were considered neglectful. I guess my whole point is that I and most of you here are trying to break that cycle of violence, swimming upstream the whole way.

i haven't been able to log onto hipmama is a long time, not sure why. I have missed you ladies a whole bunch and am looking forward to catching up on everyone's lives.

"He's a good business man, that Dick Cheney!"

sure, you could call it that.

this is why I never watch cable news. i tune in once every 6 months and am completely shocked. You may remember the last time I turned it on and saw the story about the hummer being auctioned off and the proceeds being given to families who lost a loved one in Iraq.

uh, help yourself to some cheese buddy.

oooh! cat food!

ok, here is a little bit of easter at the casa del sauce.

here are the easter eggs Sauce jr and I dyed together.

here we are, opening easter baskets.

this is so crazy. I was complaining to mr sauce about the saucette who is teething and not sleeping and he sent me this link:

http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/04/05/japan.baby.hatch.ap/inde...

I just gotta ask. I am a tall lady (5 '10) and most fold up compact strollers are too short for me and I live in a tiny house so big strollers are kind of a hassle. That said I have one of each and use them for long walks or when I pick up groceries so I don't have to carry a kid AND a load of groceries at the same time. I really like baby wearing for a few reasons, especially with little babies cause you can keep them warm and asleep for long periods of time and cause it feels nice. But I am not like some big baby wearing freak who thinks it is the only way to go, it just works well for me.

Last Updated: Monday, April 2, 2007 | 9:43 PM ET
CBC News

Children who suffered a head injury were twice as likely to sustain a second head injury within a year, say researchers, who advise parents to be cautious about the activities of their children, even if they seem to have recovered from an injury.

For the study, Bonnie Swaine of the University of Montreal and her colleagues looked at pediatricians' billings for treating injuries and conducted more than 10,000 telephone interviews with parents who had taken their injured children to hospital.

here at the Sauce house, we have two weekend rituals. Every Saturday night Sauce jr stays up past his bedtime and we watch 'Hockey night in Canada' while eating popcorn and drinking hot cocoa. Every Sunday morning we have a pancake breakfast. It may not sound like a big deal, but we all look forward to these things during the week and they give a sort of a routine to our lives that is comforting.

anyone else have weekend rituals?

On sunday I took my kids out to my dads and we made maple syrup. I remember doing this every year as a kid and it was pretty neat to see my own kid enjoying this process as much as I had.

My dad has about 6 trees tapped with a few buckets on each tree.

here is Sauce jr will a bucket, ready to collect the tree sap.

I have noticed a few times over the past few months that Sauce jr crosses his eyes every once in a while. His vision seems to be fine, but when he looks at something really close up, he left eye gets a little crossed. I have been keeping an eye on it and not feeling to worried because I have also noticed a lot of little kids (especially the little dudes) eyes do this.

i love photobooths. this is the most recent addition to my collection.

My Grammy bought Sauce jr a subscription to 'Chirp' magazine and he has really been enjoying it. Crafts, jokes, poems and tidbits of information to set the preschool mind a wandering. This month's issue came with a free 'gift' of an issue of ParentsCanada magazine which has really chapped my ass, if you couldn't tell from the title of this blog.

let me set the scene for you; teething 8 month old baby who hasn't slept for about 3 days, active 3 year old with a cold, the mr. and I recovering from an intense marriage counseling session, general domestic chaos...

Last Updated: Tuesday, March 6, 2007 | 4:42 PM ET
CBC News

Despite Ontario's strengthening economy, the number of children living in poverty in the province is rising, an annual report card by an anti-poverty group says.

The study by Ontario Campaign 2000 found that one in six children live in poverty, or about 478,480 children, with the provincial child poverty rate inching up to 17.4 per cent in 2004 from 15.1 per cent three years before.

Common plastic chemicals linked to obesity
Last Updated: Thursday, March 15, 2007 | 4:12 PM ET
CBC News

Phthalates, a class of chemicals used in some plastic food packaging and soaps, have been implicated in higher belly fat in men.

Phthalates are used to make plastic flexible, and are found in plastic tubes, some children's toys, cosmetics, shampoos, soaps, lotions, lubricants, paint, pesticides, and other plastics.