Are You A Crier Or A Celebrator?

Where did the summer go? I must admit...I have been grasping on to any little teeny bit of summer I can get but as of this morning I had to admit summer is over. We had a wonderful summer and I just don't want to let it go! I could even delay the inevitable 'Back to School Shopping' because all of my sons are in high school or beyond and have reached the stage where they only require looking good.

1st Day of School

My youngest started High School today. My middle son will be graduating High School this year. Its going to be a very exciting year in our house hold! I got up early this morning (which is amazing for those of you who know me!!) so I could grab a picture of my son before he left with his dad for his first day. He was dressed up in his new school clothes and a big excited smile on his face.

I quickly snapped a few pictures, waved good bye and went back inside to finish my mug of tea. Its amazing to me how quickly time has flown. There are parents bringing their youngsters in for their very first day of 'real' school today, and its harder to tell who's crying harder...the kids or the moms!
Now here my family is at the stage of life where we barely stop the truck rolling in front of the school so the kid can jump out before being spotted with his embarrassing parents.Ha!!

So as I sit here and mourn a very great summer and revel in a wonderfully quite house, I pose to you all...are you criers or celebrators on your child's first day of school? I must confess...I did cry for my oldest's first day of grade one....but now....ahhhh...the peace and tranquillity is bliss beyond compare.

So moms...dads!! Send me your pictures!! Send me your stories!! Lets start this new school year with smiles of excitement. Email me your family pics of your child(ren) on the first day or week of school. My next post I will hopefully have enough pictures to make a unique poster of everyone's excited faces!

What A Wonderful Summer!!

Hello everyone!! I hope you are all enjoying your summer and relaxing as much as possible. It seems this time of year flies by so quickly. Just 8 weeks ago my family was preparing for our first family vacation in about 7 years, and 2 of the boys were also getting ready to go to camp.

Now here we are on the middle day of August, camp is done, our suitcases are unpacked and wonderful memories were created. Stores are pushing school supplies, gardens are full of produce and evenings are getting cooler. Ugh!!! I'm not ready for it to be over!!!!

This year my family decided we wanted to go on and adventure for our holiday. Usually our 'vacation' has entailed renting a small cabin for 3 or 4 nights and enjoying the peace and quiet of the prairies. Well this year that idea just did not seem to grab any one. ( except me...I love the cabin...) So we kind of hemmed and hawed and I came up with an odd and wildly crazy idea. I suggested to my 3 young, adventurous men and my husband that we buy an old camper van..fix it up so its driveable...let the kids paint it...and see how far we can go in 2 weeks!

Adventure Van 2012

Game on!! So we had 6 weeks to find a van that suited our needs, fit in a tight budget, paint it up, fix it up and go on vacation. What an exciting time!! Our Adventure Van 2012 made it all the way to Las Vegas and back to Alberta...no air conditioning though (and it was 104F!!) so we need to fix that for next time!!

We saw the Hoover Dam and Grand Canyon! Drove through deserts...saw the lights in Vegas....mountains in Montana. Everyday was something new and beautiful to see out those windows. We drove Route 66 and ate at the Road Kill Cafe! Ha!! One of the most exciting things we saw was vultures munching on some roadkill while we were driving up to Area 51!! We just don't see stuff like that here at home.

One Of Our Favorite Stops

It was so much fun...everyday was an adventure for us. But the very best part of the whole trip for myself was just being with my family. Experiencing all these awesome things with them. Hearing the boys laughing in the hotel rooms, or joking around in the van. There was no fighting or arguing. There was just this kind of rare magical freedom of being away from all that was normal to us and sharing all these new experiences without judgement or rivalry that usually goes on when kids are at home. And as parents we were away from all our regular day to day grind and could just enjoy everything around us.

The summer of 2012 has certainly left our family with plenty of memories. I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to have gone on this vacation with all my boys and to have shared all the wonders we saw and experienced together (even the 104f heat in the van! ha!!). I may even be so bold to say I think they may have enjoyed it too because they were talking about what needed fixing for next year's adventure!

Hope you are all having a safe and memory packed summer!!

Grand Canyon 2012

Mistakes...?

Happy Summer everyone! By now I'm sure you are all in full heat wave mode. Peeling skin from the first sun burn, hot dogs and hamburgers are getting to be common supper fare, and the hum of fans and air conditioners can be heard everywhere.

One thing I find lacking, at least on the street we live on...is children racing their bikes or roller blading or sitting on the corner moaning how bored they are. Ha! Gone are the days of spontaneous childhood adventures. Spending unsupervised days at the pool or hours riding our bikes. We didn't have cell phones to check in. We knocked on friend's doors, we didn't have play dates. No 'helicopter parents'.

My children aren't really children anymore. My youngest will by turning 15 at the end of this month, the middle is 17 and my oldest turned 20 this year. I have 3 very wonderful young men that I encouraged to have childhoods like myself and my husband. It was frowned upon quite a bit. Letting a 10 and 7 year old ride their bikes to the park a block away from our home 'unsupervised' was horrible parenting! Riding their bikes together, after myself or my husband had shown them the way, to places further then the park as they got older was so unsafe. Was careless parenting. Was sending my children into needless danger.

I shake my head at these parents that hover. These are the same people that climbed trees as kids, rode bikes til dark, played tag and slid down hot metal slides. What changed?

This past weekend my middle son had to help bury his best friend. He stood with his group of buddies under a beautiful summer sun in a cemetery listening to the drums beating and watched as they lowered his friend into the ground. That day was something I wish my son and all friends and family never had to go through. I was very proud of the boys. They acted very honorably and I'm sure their buddy was hugging them tight through out the whole service.

I wont lie. I was definitely a helicopter parent this past week...and it probably wont stop right away. Not as long as my son is hurting. We all make mistakes...there are times to step in..times to step back ...but as long as we learn.

May the rest of our summer be uneventful. Full of healing, love, laughter and sunshine.

May you all have safe summer vacations full of loving memories, laughter and some yummy ice tea!

In Loving Memory 

Ice Tea And Lazy Dayz...

Matt Grade 9 Grad 2012

Happy summer everyone! Its finally arrived! My middle son finally wrote his last exam on Monday so our family is  officially able to say we are on summer break! My youngest graduated from grade 9 this year, my middle young man will graduating grade 12 next year and my oldest just turned 20, which means there are no more little kids in my house any more. (Well...in my heart they will always be little!)       Needless to say this will be a different kind of summer then from years gone by.

This year will be filled with work schedules, mom can I borrow the truck?, all night parties by the fire pit....and who knows...maybe even a summer romance or two? Gone are the days of just setting up the baby pool and making Popsicles, grabbing an ice tea and enjoying the afternoon with the boys. Now they sleep til noon ( as teens are known to do!) or send me a text or two to let me know they are still breathing. They show up when they are hungry, tired or need fresh clothing. Sometimes I miss being a teen! ha!!

This summer will definitely be a summer of changes. Now when I grab that ice tea I can bring my book out there with me and READ. I don't have to watch my children carefully. There shouldn't be anyone choking on hotdogs or slipping on wet grass. No cuts to bandage, no fruits to cut up or drinks to be poured.

This summer we are taking a family vacation...an adventure if you prefer! Since everyone is so busy doing their own thing I thought lets combine these skills and see what we end up with. So we purchased a 1984 GMC Vandura (needs some love...) and each kid is contributing to the end product. They want to paint and wire and change fluids etc and make it our own. Then we will pack up and head south and explore Southern USA near Las Vegas. No set destination in mind...just pack up and go!

But in the mean time, I'm in that kind of limbo stage. I've done the hectic crazy summers when the kids were little. Taking them to the out door pool, or running to day camps. Soon enough I will have little grandchildren running around one day starting the cycle over again. But for now...I think I will go pour myself some ice tea ad go curl up on my deck with a good book. Enjoy the beginning of your summer everyone!

Congrats its June!!

Good afternoon my friends! Hope you are enjoying the sunshine and bird songs, and the switch from warm hot ciders to refreshing lemonade and ice tea. I'm sure most of you have your gardens in and have settled into the new schedule of lawn mowing and garden maintenance. ( Which for some is a pleasure and for some a chore..ha!)

My perennial flower garden has been busy going through its spring flowers and every year I'm always pleasantly surprised by whats out there. Right now I have beautiful sunny yellow irises and these huge orange poppies that always amaze me! My miniature lilac bushes are full of sweet smelling buds just waiting for some sun to burst them open. I love the smell! And in the evening when I'm in my room I can smell the lilacs that are just under my bedroom window.

I'm always so surprised at how effortlessly all these plants and flowers seem to know exactly when to peek their heads out of the snow and earth to greet the new Spring season. One by one  they each follow, filling my gardens with waves of color and scents.

As the school year rushes to a close, and everyone is busy going to end of year concerts, banquets, and for many graduation ceremonies I know many parents think 'Wow! This school year flew by!'  The mass of color and taffeta and giggling girls, the spiffed up young men, brightly decorated gyms, speeches, music. For a brief moment in time its like my garden. They were all in there just waiting for their turn to bloom and dance in the sunshine.

So happy end of school year everyone! Congrats to everyone finishing their school year and a special congratulations going out to my brother in law!! WooHoo!! Your the special dandelion in my garden dude!! Way proud of you!

Happy May!

Oh how I love May! In my front yard I have a tree called a May Day (how appropriate!) and it blooms for about 1 week. They are these delicate white blossoms that have the sweetest smell. When you walk out on to the front deck you are engulfed by the beauty of the aroma. Then as quickly as the blossoms are there, we usually get a wind or rain and then poof! The magical display is over. I look forward to this Spring display every year because it is right around my birthday. It sort of feels like it is Mother Nature's special gift for me.


So I'm kind of on a rant today. Just warning everyone ahead of time! Ha!! I may have to back up a bit to explain myself before I go on my rant though so bear with me. I'm not sure how universal the 'ribbon' is to support certain causes such as pink ribbon for breast cancer, or the yellow one to support the troops, but here in Canada and in the United States I've seen them everywhere. Now before anyone gets their panties in a knot...I think these ribbons are a great idea. Or they were a great idea...

Let me explain...Back in the day when they first started...it was such a unique idea, it stood out. People saw that ribbon on your car or pinned to your jacket and they knew you were supporting an important cause. Then these causes started having special walk a thons...then special days...then months...all good things. But they over shadowed the 'less popular' conditions.
I think some conditions has been very creative with their 'ribbons'. Men's prostrate cancer uses a necktie, autism uses a ribbon with puzzle pieces and fibromyalgia incorporates a butterfly with their ribbon. But how often do we see the unique ones? How often do you know when does Autism have a Walk a Thon, or is there a Prostate Awareness Month? I only stumbled on Fibromyalgia Awareness Day (May 12 FYI) because I saw a clip art similar to this on posted on a friend's Facebook page. And folks...I HAVE Fibro!!!

And how uncoordinated is this? In the USA, May is Arthritis Awareness Month. Again..something I stumbled on as I did a bit of research for my rant today. But guess what? Arthritis Awareness Month is September in Canada! So either Arthritis got lucky and we get double exposure, or the two countries could not get together and coordinate a month together and make a strong front and really gain a lot of exposure like Breast Cancer or the Heart and Stroke Campaign do every year. (Bet you know what color ribbons those two are & what months they are in!)

Now like I said..I was in the mood for a rant...not a fight. I know each and every cause is near and dear to everyone out there. The purple and blue are fights I deal with every day, but I have close friends and family who have fought the pink and red, the running shoes...the daffodils...the list goes on and on. All I'm suggesting is hey folks...lets let the little guys be heard too. I know the pink ribbon is important...but I want to know when the other guys have their months too. I think they deserve more then a 2 minute blurb on the noon news. They deserve the whole month of awareness just like the bigger campaigns do!

So my friends...May is  Arthritis Awareness Month! I may be just a wee little blog but if we all take a few min and realize hey..blue is arthritis...we all learned something new today!

Thanks for the rant!! Enjoy your afternoon!!

Happy Mom Day!!

Wow! Where did Spring go? Seems like just last week I was I was planting my seeds in containers on my counters and glaring at the snow piles on my yard. Today, the sun is shining, grass is green, buds are close to blooming on my trees and bushes and my seedling are ready for my garden. Welcome May! Welcome to sitting on the deck and laughing with friends, or laying in the sun and listening to the birds. Freedom from the indoors! Shorts, sunshine, long lazy days ahead! Can you tell I'm a warm weather girl? Ha!!

Well, one of the wonderful things about May is that my mom usually makes her annual visit to our house to come spoil her grandboys and my husband and myself. This year was no exception with her arriving in late April and staying until the beginning of May. This year she was even able to extend her visit by a few days, but it never seems like it long enough!

One tradition my mom and I started a few years back is having our 'Girl Day'. I must admit I look forward to our girl day. Living in a house full of boys, 'girlie' stuff is limited to flower prints on my paper towels. Our day involves NO boys! We run off to the spa in the afternoon and get pampered with either manicures or pedicures. This year the spa was having a special that started the day that we went. All the spa services were 50% off!! Well we were in girl heaven!! 3 hours later...pretty toes AND pretty fingers!!

Next stop...supper! Another part of the tradition is going to a restaurant called Cheesecake Cafe. We usually get this yummy soup that is put inside a yummy fresh baked bun. Well...our 'luck' was holding out, because we walked into the restaurant and they had a fantastic meal deal that even included a piece of their famous cheesecake. Ohhh...it was sooo good! But ohhh were we so very full!!!!
 

So, pretty toes, pretty fingers, very full tummies...only thing left to do on our girl day was go shopping!! So off to the mall we waddled! ( I would say ran, but we were way to full to run any where!! ha!!) Our luck held out even at the mall too, because every store we went into was having some sort of sale also! It was truly a perfect 'Girl Day' !

I just want to take this opportunity to send out a great big thank you and Happy Mother's Day to my mom. I love our special day and I very much look forward to it each year. You come and help and support me. You sat through all those doctors appointments, drove down to pick up the kids and eagle eyed my medicine! Thank you mom! 

 I love you...Happy Mother's Day!