A Golden Day!

Today has been golden... I took the day off because John was off today and we thought it'd be nice to have some family time together... It's been wonderful so far!
I woke up early, and the house to myself for a while (LOVE that!)... so I had my own Quiet Time with God and a cup of coffee!
Then after breakfast (I made a big batch of apple cinnamon raisin Oatmeal) we caught up on our housework.. well, John and I did.. but here's a picture of Luke sneaking a break when he was supposed to be tidying up his room (he found a dinosaur book that he had forgotten about!):

After our chores were done, we did a bible craft that I had planned to do a few weeks ago... here is a picture of the final product.. Luke had a blast with this one..... the sand is made out of cornmeal (which is kinda hard to see in this pic).. the scales are squares of tinfoil that Luke glued on... the seaweed has green sparkles.. and for the water, Luke used blue watercolor.... :) A work of art!


And then after Luke's nap, we headed out to a new-to-us park for a picnic beside the river! It was beautiful!

All in all - it's been a pretty golden day!

This Week's Blessings

Artwork by Tom Sierak "Chums"

So many good little blessings to share this week!

* Discovering a new beach! On Wednesday, the whole family spent the day together and we drove to the St.Lawrence area... and came across Brown Bay Day Picnic Area! What a treasure!! We found a lovely shady spot under a huge tree, right by the water (it was 40 with the humidex - so we needed the shade!). There are picnic tables, a canteen, washrooms, a playstructure and of course a beach... we were in heaven! And didn't feel the heat at all! We'll definitely be going back soon!

* A cute little 2 1/2 year old who insists on wearing his rubber boots everywhere and with anything... today he had on his swimming trunks AND his boots!! And so of course, when I saw this work of art by Tom Sierak called Chums - it totally made me think of Luke. I do draw the line at wearing them to bed though....

* A night out with the girls. The movie was a tear jerker: My Sister's Keeper. But it was quite good and more importantly I got to catch up with some friends!! It had been a while!

* A great morning spent with a dear Aunt. I'm so blessed to have such great family!

* My best friend and DH John who does a Tim Horton's run for me at 550am on his way to work, when he realizes we're out of coffee! Love you babe!

An Almost Perfect Day

We enjoyed a lovely day today. This morning I went to weigh in at Weight Watchers before church and found out that I lost another 2.5 pounds! I realize that this is the first time that I mention my weight on my blog - but yes, I do have some post-pregnancy weight to lose - and yes I'm choosing to call it post-pregnancy weight, despite the fact that Luke is almost 3 years old now! LOL!! In any case - I'm pleased as punch with a 2.5 pound weight loss!

After church Luke and I, along with Nanna and Poppa went to our very favorite place - Pinhey's Point for a picnic. It's a gorgeous local historical site. There is beautiful scenery for me, a playstructure for Luke and a fishing dock for John... heaven! This is our second year in a row visiting Pinhey's Point for Fathers Day. Unfortunately John was working today, so that's what prevented today from being perfect (that and the couple of rainshowers we experienced)... but all in all, it was an alogether lovely day!

A Soul Mate, A Northern Flicker and a Frog called Jambalaya!

So much to write about, such limited time! Sigh... isn't that always the way?

Tomorrow is Father's Day and I wanted to take a moment to express how thankful I am to have such an amazing husband. He is my rock. He's not the type of husband who gives flowers very often... in 16 years I think I can count the times on one hand that he's given me flowers. But what he's given me is so much more valuable than flowers.

He's given me his support, his love and his friendship. In 16 years of marriage, we have seen our ups and our downs in life.... some wonderful times and some trials that I hope we never have to face again. We've been on smooth roads but we've also travelled over such bumpy and treacherous roads when we wondered if we'd ever find our way.

Through it all, he's always been by my side. And now we have a wonderful little boy - a blessing that we've waited for, for a very long time. And I want to say, John, that not only are you an amazing husband - but you are a magnificent father as well. When I look at the two of you together, I can't helped but be overwhelmed at times by how blessed I am. The Three Musketeers, now and forever!! I love you John!! Happy Father's Day!!

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Yesterday John, Luke and I visited the Nature Museum. Of course we had to go visit the Dinosaurs!! But we also took a gander over to the bird floor as well. And I was excited to learn that a bird I saw in our backyard the other day is called a Northern Flicker!!

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Luke has a new little friend - a wee little stuffed frog. He's named him Jambalaya! I've no idea where he learned that word and I have no idea why he thought that it would make a good name for a little green frog... but Jambalaya it is. I just felt the need to share that.... I love to witness little minds at work. Such funny and quirky things materialize when you have a 2 1/2 year old around!! Fun times, fun times.

Counting my Blessings

I've always been of the mindset that when the going gets rough, then I need to count my blessings in order to be reminded of all that is good in my life and to be thankful for all that God has blessed with me with and all that He has entrusted me with.





Sometimes it's hard to remember to count my blessings. Sometimes I just want to wallow in self-pity and distance myself from everyone except for the very, very few who are closest to my heart.





And dear friends, this is precisely why you have not heard from me in over a month. Pure wallowing going on... and it hasn't been pretty! If you can believe it, I'm still having a rough time returning to work. Even though it is only a couple of days a week that I'm away from the home - it's still proving to be quite the adjustment for me, in quite a few different ways - none of which I'll bore you with....





But June is now upon us and I need to shake off this funk. I need to focus on the blessings in my life and look to God for direction. So here goes:

Recent Blessings

• Thank you Lord for my sweet little monkey who always puts a smile on my face. Today he was talking 'gibberish' and I asked him if he was "making words up?". He stopped his gibberish-talk, looked at me intently (and with an air of patience) and said "No, Momma, I'm making words DOWN!"

• Today Luke said the dinner blessing prayer all on his own!! It brought tears to my eyes to witness this milestone that I've waited for, for so long! My little baby is turning into a little man before my eyes.

• Attending a Potluck celebration with our church family after today's service. It was quite lovely and since we were urged to sit with people we don't know all that well - it was especially nice to get to know someone new!

• John and I recently celebrated our 16th Wedding Anniversary! My parents cared for Luke while we went out for dinner and then we went out by ourselves on the boat for a relaxing evening of fishing and chatting. It was the perfect evening! Here's to the next 16 years Honey!

• Friends who are able to see beyond my 'distant self' and put up with it and love me anyways!! You know who you are - and I love you for it!

Season of Changes...

These past few weeks have been full of changes for our little household. And although in the long run, the changes will be so good for our family.... I have a hard time with changes... I get emotional.... I withdraw from everyone, except for immediate family.

The biggest change was closing my little home daycare. You see, I was enjoying a 5 year leave of absence from my government career in order to stay home with Luke during his childhood years. The original plan was to go back to work on a full time basis in 2012. However in recent months, I've felt a very strong desire to homeschool Luke and have been praying for a way to make it work - balancing a need for flexibility in our days with our need for me to bring in an income to the household budget.

A few weeks ago, I received an answer to my prayers - I worked out an arrangement with my government employer in order to return to work on a part time basis (2 days a week in the office and 1 day a week at home). And so I needed to close my little home daycare. I knew that I would feel emotional about saying goodbye to the little children I've grown to love - I just didn't anticipate the depths of my emotions!!

And of course little Luke misses his friends too! It's a big change for us all to have our home back to ourselves.

My first day back to work was on March 31st. And it was a difficult one for me. You see, in Luke's 2 1/2 years, I've NEVER been away from him for a full day. And even though Daddy will be caring for Luke while I go to work - it was still hard for me to let go. By the 3rd day - Luke was cluing in to what it meant when "Momma has to go to work now"... he was clinging to my legs with all of his little might and crying and saying "Momma, stay home and snuggle with me". And Luke has NEVER been a clingy child. That morning I cried the entire 30 minute commute into work.

I KNOW that I'm not the first Momma to leave their toddler in order to go to work. I KNOW that... but somehow it doesn't make it any easier.... LOL!!

I know that if I can make this work - it will be so good for my family. We will have so much more quality time together - time to go to museums, fishing, trips to parks, walks, arts and crafts and so much more...

I just have to get past this heartbreaking agony of adjusting to spending a few days a week apart from him.

Tell me it gets easier....

Just a Few Things on my Mind Lately..

Warning... some of these things are blessings I'd like to share, but a couple are vents that I need to get off my chest! I may choose to expand on some of these topics in the near future... or not... ! I thank you in advance for indulging me!

• I would say that for the last 1 1/2 years to 2 years, I've been on a very slow path towards trying to eat and live more organically. And it's been a struggle for me. The cost of living in an amazing country like Canada does not come cheap. Trying to do so organically is exhorbitant. I sometimes wonder if ignorance is bliss... reading about the chemicals, hormones and toxins that we are ingesting with every bite we eat was my undoing... I cannot in good conscience continue to feed my family anything but the highest quality of food that I can obtain. I just wish it didn't have to come at such an expensive price to do so. It shouldn't cost an arm and a leg to be able to feed your family healthfully.

• Apatosaurus, Compsognathus, Ichthyosaurus, Lambeosaurus... !!! Yes - I have dinosaurs on the mind... Dearest Luke - I am so very humbled by your desire to learn and the way you adamantly refuse to be given lazy answers... right now it's dinosaurs that you are passionate about and I try hard to feed your neverending thirst for knowledge...what other 2 year old do I know that can point out all of these dinosaurs and has a special fondness for the little Compsognathus dinosaur? You are an absolute wonder my dear son and it is an honor to mother you and teach you.

• Decluttering!! I'm trying hard to be ruthless...but I'm a packrat at heart... what if I could possibly USE that pocket lint at some point?!! Okay -I'm not THAT bad... but close!! I think though that with my home daycare closing soon - I will be reclaiming a large chunk of living space (my home is already very tiny) and storage space again. And this should make my job easier.

• Why is it that some people choose to feel threatened when we make parenting decisions (or any other decisions for that matter) that are different than the decisions that they've made? MY decisions are NOT a passive condemnation of YOUR lifestyle! What I feel is important to my family may not be important to your family - and that's OKAY! You may choose to fill your days with events and activities that are different than those that we choose to spend our time on.... and that's OKAY! We can choose to view our differences in a positive way - what a boring world this would be if we were all the same! As a very wise woman once said (Mother Teresa): "If you judge people, you have no time to love them." Let's just choose to love each other, despite the differences, okay?

• Isaiah 58. Today we had a guest speaker give a powerful sermon... or a workshop as he called it (it was quite interactive)... on this chapter of the bible. I'm still trying to wrap my mind around it. But it was good. It was very good.

• Springtime, long hikes, camping, gardening, sitting in my backyard with my family... basically I just want winter to be over right about now... grin!!

The Sense of Wonder

"If this (the starry sky) were a sight that could be seen only once in a century...this little headland would be thronged with spectators. But it can be seen many scores of nights in any year, and so the lights burned in the cottages and the inhabitants probably gave not a thought to the beauty overhead; and because they could see it almost any night, perhaps they will never see it."

Quote by Rachel Carson in her book "The Sense of Wonder" - which was originally published as an essay in 1956 in The Woman's Home Companion.

The Sense of Wonder is a must-read for any parent.

Blessings!

I have a whole wackload of blessings to report - so instead of doing my usual "Today's Blessings!".. I'm going to list a few recent blessings!

• Time spent reading to Luke. I'm so thankful that he is a child that loves books! Books are such a huge part of my being, and one of the things that I cherish is to share my love of books with him. I'm already sharing some of my childhood favorites with him and it warms my heart to see them bringing him as much joy as they brought me as a child!

• A huge blessing for us is that I'll soon be returning to work on a part time basis! I'd taken a 5 year leave of absence from my career in order to stay home with Luke full time during his early childhood and had opened a home daycare in order to bring in the income that we needed. But I've since been offered the opportunity to go back to my career part time!! I'll work in the office 2 days a week and work from home 1 day. John will be able to watch Luke when I'm at work - he will switch shifts if need be with a colleague. And as a back up - my parents will be able to care for Luke and a dear friend as well! But the VERY BEST part about this arrangement is that we will be able to homeschool Luke with this schedule!!! Homeschooling is something that we have seriously been considering and we've been praying for a way to make it work!! I'm so pleased that I will now have more time to spend with my son and family! God is great!

• Luke's cousins came over for a fun-filled night!! We have been looking foward to this for a long time! The theme of the evening was Feeding our Feathered Friends... we made bird treats to hang outdoors and had a great time doing so! Was such a blessing to spend time with my dear niece and nephew and to have some bonding time with them! Here is a picture of one of the treats that we made:

• We watched Cars finally this evening! Luke has a little friend who is CRAZY about Lightning McQueen and Mater from the movie Cars - and Luke has been asking to see Mater for quite some time... so we finally watched it this evening with Nanna and Poppa! Cute movie!! We really enjoyed it!

• This whole weekend in general was just jam packed with friends and family and fun times! We went for a hike on Saturday morning, had a Playdough Playdate on Saturday afternoon, went tobogganning and then for hot chocolate today... fun times!

• And just in general - I've been feeling so incredibly blessed to have a husband who loves me as much as he does, the cutest boy in the world for a son, and an amazing family who I just ADORE being with....

Life with Luke - Memorable Conversations!

Okay, so today at lunch, out of the blue - Luke starts to mumble something about dinosaurs. His pronunciation of words is not the best, so it takes me a while to figure out that he is saying "dinosaurs". But he is a good egg - and will repeat himself over and over until he is CERTAIN that I understand each word he is trying to say! LOL!!

After a few moments, I can tell he is really trying to tell me a story here... not just two or three words.. but he has quite a few sentences in his head that he is trying to tell me all at once. This is a milestone for Luke.

It turns out that he is quite upset because FIVE DAYS AGO, we went to the nature museum and looked at the dinosaur exhibit and I would not let him touch the dinosaur bones. He repeated word for word what I had told him at the museum (did I mention this was 5 days ago?! Talk about harboring a grudge!! LOL!!).

I reminded him that although I did not let him touch the dinosaur bones, he WAS able to touch the gigantic replica of a triceratops and T-rex - and he even touched their teeth. To which he replied.... "ooohhhhh yaaa. I forgot!"

The conversation ended on a good note when I told him that the next time we go to the museum, he can ask one of the staff members if he can touch the dinosaur bones and that if they said it was okay, then it was okay with me. He was QUITE pleased with that compromise!

What a character, already at 2 years old, he's trying hard to negotiate his OWN terms!!

On a side note, Luke ADORED the museum...and plan to go again very soon - as we did not have time to see the entire museum - instead focusing on the dinosaurs (he's all about the dinosaurs lately - with Triceratops being his favorite).