Category Archives: Family

Be Asking What You ‘Did’ on the Weekend

As a stay-at-home mom, my Monday to Fridays are weekends and my weekends are a holidays because I have all my boys at home.   My favourite quote as I raise up young men, “The days are long, but the years are short?”

My usual weekends involve cooking, cleaning, laundry, driving, encouraging, creating and loving up my boys to get ready to launch them ‘back into the world’ for another week. I feel profoundly grateful that I can be my three boys first teacher and that Sexy Neck supports me emotionally as well as financially. I feel completely content with my ‘job’ but sometimes I cringe at the Monday morning school drop-off where people ask about your weekend.

Tomorrow, I am going to be laughing my head off as I answer the question, “What did you do on the weekend?”.

I did surgery on a bear!

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Thanks JC for taking the photo of me sewing on daddy bear’s head. Nana would be proud. We had daddy bear sitting by Nana’s sewing machine since the fall, but we brought him home.   I sewed on my first teddy bear head. I can do anything.

New.

Risk taking.

Needle.

Thread.

One head at a time.

Grace.

Peace.

Joy.

Huge smile from JC.

Proud Mama.

Another great day.

Week.

Weekend.

Doing.

Being.

Be Having Simple Soccer Family Fun

We are at the stage where we go as a family to all our sporting events and activities. Our boys love cheering for each other and playing on the sidelines.

This spring, we embarked on our maiden voyage of being a soccer family. I am not sure when Sexy Neck and I will need to divide and conquer the boys activities, but for now we are enjoying being in the same boat.

CC is participating in ‘kick and run’ soccer on Friday nights.

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All the boys love shooting on the net afterwards.

JC is playing on his first team ever, practicing midweek and playing games on Saturday mornings.

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CC and OC play soccer on the sidelines. Sexy Neck is helping coach with a great group of men.

Family fun.

Cheering.

Playing.

Positive male role models.

Sports.

Team.

Hardwork.

Friendship.

Hand-eye coordination.

Determination.

Focus.

Soccer.

Be Writing Thank You Notes to New Neighbours

As, Jimmy Fallon from The Tonight Show, sits down to write his own thank you notes, I decided to write thank you notes to our new neighbourhood.

Thank you to Jimmy for the inspiration. Here are this evening’s thank you notes by Jimmy. This is my personal twist of sarcasm at its best! Some points are exaggerated for comedic effect, unfortunately most points are not.

🌀Thank you neighbour for leaving your garbage can, recycling can and compost bin at the curb ALL WEEK LONG. We love watching you put your garbage out in your housecoat as well as watch your kids friend’s play bumper cars with the bins as they try to park their cars beside them.

🌀Thank you neighbour for parking your semi-truck on our street every Thursday to Saturday and driving away without any lights on like we don’t see you.

🌀Thank you neighbour for bringing your son over to play then leaving him at our house for two hours fifteen minutes after we met you. We can see why you needed the break.

🌀Thank you neighbour for calling me by the wrong name every morning at exactly 8:15 when you come out to walk your dog. My name is hard to remember, as it is the same as yours.

🌀Thank you neighbour for not smoking inside your house. We appreciate the stench in our yard and throughout our house, especially when you decide to pull out the ‘pot’.

🌀Thank you neighbour for asking my son if he’s “skipping school” when you saw him at home on a school day. Uhhhh, he was sick and he’s six. He had no idea what you were talking about.

🌀Thank you neighbour for standing on your porch in your white undershirt just staring into our yard.

🌀Thank you other neighbour for walking very slowly down our back fence, like you are doing the wedding march with the groom standing in the middle of our backyard. Next time just pop over for a look so that you don’t hurt your neck.

🌀Thank you neighbour for taking off your dog’s leash as you approach our houses so that it can urinate on our lawn then bark at our dog at our gate. Thank you for finally not allowing your dog to come into our house anymore.

🌀Thank you neighbour for telling me that my mom just gave up and wanted to die. I guess the millions of cancer cells multiplying had nothing to do with it.

🌀Thank you neighbour for using pesticides to kill the weeds on the edge of our lawn bordering your property. My boys sperm count thank you.

🌀Speaking of boys, thank you neighbour for exclaiming in front of my family of four boys the very first time we met you, “Oh, I was hoping you were going to have little girls!” Welcome to my family of big boys. (Now perhaps stunted due to your pesticide use).

Be Purple Footed

My heart is holey today.

I wish I could say it is holy.

The death of my mom is feeling large today.

Tears sit at the edge of my eyes.

My heart hurts.

I want to speak to my mom.

I have so many unanswered questions.

I feel an incredible sadness of her not ‘being’ in my everyday life.

It’s a deep purple heartfelt loss.

I choose, today, to slip on Mom’s soft purple Keen’s. (Mom always bought the best shoes and how fortunate am I that the shoes fit!)

One step at a time I tenderly walk through my day…

until…

A friend and her daughter excitedly point at my shoes.

She exclaims, “We have the same shoes! Let’s all wear them tomorrow!” Here they are in their beautiful purple shoes:

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Tomorrow, I won’t be wearing my purple Keen’s alone.

My heart aches a little less.

The hole in my heart feels smaller.

I sense God’s holy presence through the coincidence of purple shoes.

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Friday morning add-on:
Look what my A friend wore to school drop-off/work today:

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Pure awesomeness.

Friendship.

Solidarity.

In grief.

Thank you A, M and Sweet C!!

Be ‘Including’ My Children

A few weeks ago, I received a comment, an innocent comment, that I have pondered and chewed on for weeks.

“Wow, you guys always do such a great job of including your children in what you are doing!”

I am surprised by this comment because:

🌀 On a daily basis, I love including my boys bustling energy of curiosity with what we are doing.

🌀 I never imagine doing anything without my boys hovering near by or asking to help. Even when I am just folding laundry they often help or play hockey behind me.

🌀 If we do ‘want’ to do something without the boys, we will plan for one of us to take them on an excursion outside of the house or do the activity during Naptime or after bedtime. I must admit that these times are few and far between.

Here is our family in action over the last few weeks working together on landscaping, pool opening, crib disassembling and dog training:

20140513-232626.jpgSexy Neck moves one load of dirt then one load of boys.

20140513-232731.jpgJC heard that we were going to take down the crib… One morning he awoke, got the tools, disassembled the crib and brought it all downstairs. He’s seven and had remembered working with Sexy Neck to put it up last summer.

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Loading up the trailer for the dump and then getting a ride in the trailer across the yard.

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Laying brick with Papa Bob.

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Rolling out turf.

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‘Preparing’ the new garden.

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Dog training and walking.

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Before and after: Taking off the winter pool cover.

Working together.

Team.

Family.

Takes longer?

Yes!

Raising boys into men.

Harnessing energy.

Pouring in.

Pouring out.

Sticking together.

Perfectly imperfect.

Patiently teaching.

Creating lovely memories.

Putting down roots.

Together.

Be Letting Go (Happy Mother’s Day)

My grip is loosening.

My expectations changing.

I feel deeply.

The pain is an open wound.

I see with wise eyes.

I know myself more.

My hands are open.

My heart is free.

Free to love.

Free to let go.

Freedom is my daily journey.

The chains are broken.

Nothing holds me back.

Letting go of expectations.

Free to be me.

(12.05.2014)

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Yesterday was Mother’s Day. My eighth Mother’s Day as a mom and the first Mother’s Day without my mom. I had many people write that they were thinking of me. I think a few were concerned.

I had a beautiful day! We spent the whole day in the yard, I painted outside, we ate together, we talked about mom and yes, we felt pain. Love overflowed through my boys, our peaceful home and the thoughts from my friends.

This open wound that was birthed when mom got sick will be open for who knows how long. BUT rejoice, I am not suffering. Each day I choose to sit and deal with my pain, my wound, my hole, the waves crashing onto me. This pain is in no way producing anger nor worry. This pain is not producing suffering which can lead to addictions, anger, resentment, wrath or …. During these days, I feel incredible peace and freedom all mixed up with incredible sadness. I feel freedom to live without excuses, with no expectations and without ‘doing’ a whole lot.

Here is this Mother’s Day in photos:

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20140512-162114.jpgThoughtful gift from my friend, D!

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