Boys, Family, Parenting

Be a Preschooler

Leave a comment

This week our almost three year old, OC, started preschool one day per week for two hours.

It was one of those days where OC appeared to “grow-up” overnight.

We stared Friday with our Preschooler wanting to pour his own milk. His lunch kit and water bottle were on the counter. He proudly hung his new MEC backpack beside his brothers.

20140913-230430-83070047.jpg
OC grabbed his backpack and we were off. Everyone was excited.

20140913-230519-83119430.jpg
OC is happy that he has the same teacher as his big brother CC. He was very happy with his flag creation on his first day of preschool.

20140913-230629-83189522.jpg
The big brothers were happy to spend this day celebrating OC and enjoyed “hanging” out at the preschool playground.

20140913-230738-83258388.jpg
You are a gift OC, to our family and this world.

We appreciate your laughter, your emotions, your spunk, your wanting to try everything! We love you!

20140913-230900-83340249.jpg

20140913-230853-83333618.jpg
As we said Welcome to Preschool to OC, I said goodbye to my preschool scrapbook into the recycling bin.

20140914-101839-37119636.jpg

20140914-101857-37137543.jpg

I am learning life is about being open and letting go…

Freedom.

Joy.

Peace.

Preschool.

Family, God, Parenting

Be Introducing Sexy Neck

5 Comments

This is Sexy Neck, aka Steve, one year before we got married. (1996)

IMG_5891[1]

We met playing volleyball, living 785 kilometres apart, then dated long distance for four and a half years living 298 kilometres apart.  We had never lived in the same city until we got engaged.

Sexy Neck is first and foremost kind. Also very athletic.  Intelligent. Loves God.   Witty.  Sexy.   Artistic (most people don’t know he can draw and learned to play guitar by ear).  Hardworking.  Dog lover.  Gardener.    Handy.   He’s an idea guy.    I think he tells me about a new idea every day!

And he is incredibly “cool”.  He loved taking “Selfie’s” before selfies were selfies.

Here we are back in 1996!

IMG_5892[1]

Full of gratitude for this man.

His strong shoulders.

The love for his boys.

His passion and care for me.

Sexy Neck,  are you blushing?

P.S. We ran into a friend’s mom that we had never met before, but she had been reading the blog.  She giggled when she saw Steve, called him Sexy Neck then asked to see his neck.  It was one of the sweetest moments in our new neighbourhood with an old volleyball friend’s mom!

Goals, God, Parenting

Be Talking About Money $$ (and Food)

3 Comments

September should be the new year.

New activities.

New routines.

An almost new school year.

New lessons while cooking dinner.

And talk about money!

Sexy Neck and I have embarked on an intensive look at our budget.

Spreadsheets.

Bills.

Bank statements.

Daily conversations.

We have lived in our home for over a year.  Our boys are in the activities they would like to be in.  We have found our places to grocery shop and realized how our spending has changed. We miss our backyard rental suite that we had in our old home, but we have ideas.  STAY TUNED!

I have been working on our budgeting spreadsheet as well as listening to Youtube videos about budgeting.  I have come across a very interesting man, who was once bankrupt, who believes in God and now teaches others about finance.  His name is Dave Ramsey.  Youtube him and you will find out some interesting things.  I listened last night to a short eight minute video and here are some of the highlights:

  • God owns money, stuff, time and talents.
  • We are the managers.
  • These things (money, stuff, time and talents) are not ours, stop worrying about them.
  • God made us to be givers.

He also spoke about giving money to others or tithing.  He basically said that to tithe means one tenth.  We could give away one tenth of our income right at the beginning of the month.

Today, I was cooking dinner and thought about this concept of giving away one tenth of our income right away.

 

IMG_5890

When I was cooking dinner, I was stretching our leftovers from last night to feed us all dinner as well as make sure that I had leftovers for Sexy Neck’s lunch for tomorrow.   I decided to first put the food in Sexy Neck’s lunch and then serve the rest of us dinner.

Guess what?  When I served the lunch first there was enough for dinner, but I know if I served dinner first there wouldn’t have been any leftovers.

I wonder if we gave away ten percent of our income right at the beginning of the month… I bet there would be enough for everything else too!

 

 

Uncategorized

commentary- BC government extortion & Orwellian life

Leave a comment

I resonate… One day I will be brave enough to share why I no longer work as a teacher in the public school system.

Until now this woman of words says it all. Thank you!

Shawn L. Bird's avatarShawn L. Bird

I am not a political person.

I voted conservative most of my life.  I have never canvassed for a political party.  I have never held any union position, including shop steward.

I believe in a ‘live and let live’ attitude about most things, but I have voted every election since I was old enough.  I take my responsibility as a citizen very seriously.  I try to be educated about my opinions.  I seek information from those who know what’s going on.  I don’t trust the news to tell me the whole truth.  I am living in an Orwellian world these days where politicians and some news stories are making declarations completely opposite to what I know is true, because I live it.  Calling a black cat white does not change the fact that it is a black cat!

Here’s what I know.

After then Minister of Education Christy Clark ripped…

View original post 1,395 more words

cancer, Family, God, Grief

Be Midnight Me

2 Comments

Last night I wrote the poem below at midnight, not because I wanted to but I am realizing that this is a good time for me to write.

Quiet.

Dark.

Completely present.

Being.

My mind zips along on its hamster wheel of thought.

Writing helps me grab words, themes, feeling and alas the wheel stops.

One year after my mom’s second session of crazy poison chemotherapy, my grief is deep. The benefit of living a year past this moment is that I know the waves won’t consume me, the grief won’t paralyze me and my sleepless nights will end.

Here are my midnight musings:

20140905-225039-82239951.jpg
Midnight Me

I am a northern girl.

A redneck to some.

I am six feet tall.

A woman.

Imperfectly perfect in His image.

Overflowing with God’s grace.

(Cause He knows I need it!)

I am a Jock.

And an artist.

A mover and shaker.

A beautiful outlaw.

A writer of words.

A bearer of my soul.

A sole bearer.

My heart hurts.

As I ponder.

Watching my best friend.

My mama.

Die.

She has gone ahead of me.

Leading the way to heaven.

My mom’s life and death has re-ignited the gift Jesus gave me at 19.

A reminder.

Freedom to the captives.

Hope.

Grace.

Love.

The rope is frayed.

Split.

Disintegrating.

Nothing holds me back.

Expectations.

Judgement.

To do lists.

I am free!

Glory to God alone who brings freedom to the captives and weaves EVERYTHING together for his goodness.

Boys, God, Grief

Be Holding Tightly to Little Things

Leave a comment

I sense a loosening of many expectations I used to have, a fraying rope.

My grip is also loosening on so many of the things in my own home as I watch my dad go ‘through’ mom’s things.

I am blessed as many of the fantastic clothes mom had fit me. A few of her shoes do too!

I must admit though, that I am holding very tightly to a few little ‘things’: 20140904-225644-82604106.jpgThis is the birthday announcement we put in the newspaper for mom’s 70th birthday on March 30th, 2013.

20140904-225743-82663234.jpgA grocery list from last November.

20140904-225810-82690769.jpg
The Christmas present tag my mom wrote for me last Christmas. She was very ill before Christmas but she always had her shopping done early!

As I look at the three little pieces of paper I wonder why they are important. I realized it is because they represent the little things.

My mom was excellent because EVERY DAY she did the little things well. She remembered my boys favourite foods and books. She celebrated every little thing – birthdays, first day of school, thanksgiving, Easter, Christmas, plays, practices…. EVERYTHING! My mom always thought of us, how she could help or what she could pick up or when we could get together. Our lives were interwoven. She thought about holidays and how to include everyone. She planned and organized all the details. Mom would often surprise us with beautiful handmade placemats or table runners that she had been working on for months before they were meant to be used.

She was very present for all the little moments. Sometimes, I would walk in my laundry room and find our clean clothes folded. Often she would clean out our hand vac. She always took the dogs for a stroll, just because she liked to think of the little things.

Right now there are a lot of ‘big things’ going on around me that affect our family profoundly (teacher’s strike, mainly).

I am taking a page from my mom’s book of excellence and I am focusing on the little things.

Boys, Parenting

Be Floating a Boat on the First Day of School

1 Comment

Kindergarten and Grade two was scheduled to start today for our family. Due to an impasse between teachers and our close-minded government who deems summer school an essential service but not the regular school year, half a million students are not in school today.

I am sick to my stomach for my colleagues on the picket line but full of joy for my boys.

We started off this school year dropping Daddy at school because his car is in the shop. I asked the boys what they wanted to do today on the first day of school. As I folded the laundry, the boys put on their aprons, picked their wood from the pile in the garage and boat construction began. JC even showed me he can safely use Sexy Neck’s saw.

20140902-112534-41134539.jpg

20140902-112547-41147342.jpg

20140902-112600-41160295.jpg

20140902-112619-41179700.jpg

20140902-112748-41268053.jpg

20140902-112708-41228566.jpg

20140902-112842-41322029.jpg

20140902-113215-41535154.jpg
Now off to Mommy School at our kitchen table classroom after a quick swim. It will be an encouraging taste of writing, reading and Math.

Building my boys up.

Extending our summer.

Praying for a resolution.

Enjoy each of these ‘bonus’ days.

No place I would rather be.

Raising boys into men.

One day at a time.

One pencil mark.

One piece of paper.

One piece of wood.

One nail.

One Christ guiding my ways.

Glory to Him who weaves everything together for good!

cancer, Grief

Be Saving a Seat for Nana

2 Comments

I am continually amazed by my children’s insight and childlike faith. I have discovered a deep understanding of the meaning when God asks us to have ‘faith like a child’.

Last night, I shared about the storm that exists for me in my rowboat of grief. I choose to show my grief to Sexy Neck, a few close friends and privately in my laundry room. I don’t expect my children to heal me, distract me or provide for my emotional well being. I sit with them in their grief but don’t expect them to sit with me in mine. But I am always surprised at how God uses them to teach me.

After I wrote yesterday’s blog post, the boys came to get Sexy Neck and I to watch a show. Wasn’t I surprised when I saw three chairs waiting for the ‘Up and Down’ show. The boys seated us and exclaimed as they pointed to the middle chair, “This one is for Nana!”
20140829-120047-43247275.jpg Nana always loved watching the boys shows, school performances and activities.

Childlike faith.

Ever present Nana.

God’s blessing.

Peace.

Love.

"Be a human BEING, not a human doing!"