Belated Father’s Day and Happy 12/17 plus Summer Solstice!

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This past Sunday was a great day for us. Not only was it Father’s Day, which we wholeheartedly thank the boys for (oh yeah!) but it was our Anniversary as well. We have been married 12 years and together for 17 as we got married on our 5 year anniversary. Thus, the Happy 12/17.

It’s been tough, a real challenge, you know? Sometimes we just don’t like each other.

Kidding!

There is no one else I would rather spend my life with than this amazing and handsome man. I’ve known him since he was 18 and I was 23. We were in our first year of art college at the foundation party when I asked him if he was drinking. He said his birthday was tomorrow and he promised his mother he wouldn’t drink until he was 19. He was serious and I was gobsmacked.

Who admits to that? He did.

I will never forget the respect I had for his morals of which I find these days/decades are down the tubes. Mine were slipping down a steep slope when we met. I was starting to feel I just wouldn’t find anyone who really cared about others, was truthful and stood by their beliefs. I knew then and there that he was someone I wanted to know, to be around. Forever.

Love ya, my man. You make me laugh. You make me humble as I take note of myself and my self-contradictions. You have made me a better person indeed. Thank you.

We may celebrate our 25th anniversary a year early to make it our 25th in 2025. Cool, right? 😉

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We had just recently purchased a bike rack and were excited about having a beautiful day ahead of us after days of rain. We had talked many times of going on a family bike outing but we just needed to buy a bike rack first, of course. The boys helped Daddy assemble the rack. I love how keen they always are!

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Once the bikes were mounted we had hopes that the rack would hold four bikes. It did a fair amount of bending and bouncing but we made it to the trail. Whew!

I had borrowed a Lensbaby Spark from work and brought it along as my only lens. Fun!

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zoom zoom…
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Taking time for Lupins.

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 We had an amazing time on our first family bike ride. It was a perfect day in every way!

Bike_84The next day I made a belated paleo carrot cake. You can’t rush a good bike ride and carrot cake takes time! Especially when it’s a new recipe. Carrot Cake is Stephen’s all-time favourite of cakes. But paleo? Well, even the boys loved it. Completely loved it! Thanks, Dawn, for the recipe. Now L wants one for his birthday!

As for the bike rack? It made its way back to Costco. Shifty bouncy thing it was. Made us nervous. We found out after some searching around that our car is only meant to handle two adult bikes on a hitch rack. Bummer. Need a new plan…

Today is a big day with L’s drama class’ evening performance after many hours of rehearsal. We were going to wake up to welcome the sun and then sleep when the sun sleeps but it’s going to be a long day for him anyway. We will, however, make our Solstice Strawberry Jam before we go to rehearsal
maybe with some bananas added this time
and a lot of sunshine!

Happy Solstice Everyone!

 

 

 

Eesh, he did it again…

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yes, that darned bug got Xman again and the same eye as last time! Two years ago in June, the boys were playing outside and Xman got bit near his eye. It just looked like a mosquito bite but it bled a bit. By the evening it was swelling. That was about 4 hours later and seemed unusual to me. Well, by next morning I couldn’t believe how he looked! I think the popsicle helped. Such a sad, big bottom lipped, boy!

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You should have seen the other kid. Kidding
kidding.

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Poor guy, he did well despite his lack of depth perception. I think the apis may have helped his eye this time around from swelling as much as last time.

Alas, I did not have a popsicle to hand over but I still got the big bottom lip.

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He got some carrot cake instead. Yum!

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must post more images with my good camera (I used my point and shoot for the last two). The first ones look much better.

Alas, he’s still a cutie!

 

Raw Kofta Balls and When God was a Rabbit

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Last Saturday our book club got together to discuss this meet’s book, which I loved. This book was the author’s first novel and as I don’t read a lot of fiction these days (I am more of a non-fiction fan lately) it was nice to sit down and enjoy a group of characters that were unusual enough to seem almost unreal but free enough in their ways to make me feel free too. When the main character suggested to her christian teacher that perhaps Jesus were an unplanned pregnancy I laughed out loud. Hey, God must have a sense of humour – he made humans after all. I think we were all split down the middle on our likes and dislikes of the book which was nice as it gave way to some good criticism and interpretation on what the author was trying to convey.

Prior to discussing the book we ate a raw food dinner where each person contributed a dish. I was so excited about this as I am a big fan of raw food and absolutely super-heart my Excalibur. That means I really love my dehydrator. Arms-out-to-here much. We had a delightful dinner with amazing raw food and even more amazing company. What a wonderful group of women who are all so different yet alike in many ways. I have only been a part of two meets so far but I have to say, “Love you ladies!”.

When I was searching for a recipe to bring to the meet I happened upon one that I’d book marked in one of my recipe books. I figured it would be too much prep for the time so I decided to make it for today – which means I had to start prep yesterday. I did however, bring some kale chips and bliss balls to our meet and they were a delightful part of a wonderfully tasty night indeed.

Tomorrow, I make Raw Banana Bread Breakfast Bars! 
which means I actually begin prep today with bananas in the dehydrator. I’ll try to remember to post those too, if I don’t eat them all first!

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Family-filled Saturday

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Yesterday was one of my favourite family days in a while.

It wasn’t anything spectacular but it was all of us for the whole day, doing a bunch of little things together.

We started off by heading out to our favourite Tim Hortons, in Dartmouth Crossing, for breakfast. We all had something fairly breakfast-y, except for X, that is. He had a frosted cinnamon bun. Looked really good but also looked like we needed to place some restrictions on breakfast food for next time. Of course, X didn’t seemed too worried about the nutritional content of his meal. 😉

After that, we went to Toys R Us to ogle the Legos, and then try the boys on different-sized bicycles before hitting up Kijiji for some deals.

After that we went to Superstore for some quick groceries and then to OPEN BANK ACCOUNTS FOR THE BOYS!

They were so excited. It took way longer than expected—MANY forms for their little hands to sign—but they were quite patient, and the gentleman at PC Financial was really great keeping them interested enough in what he was doing. And now, they are proud owners of their very own bank cards. 🙂

Boys got new bank accounts and shiny new cards too. :)

Boys got new bank accounts and shiny new cards too. 🙂

After that, we came home and had a nice relaxing lunch on the back deck, followed by a full afternoon of yard work.

The boys were extremely helpful. I had to repair our gate, that had blown off an embarrassingly long time ago, while Tam tackled the garden and other lawn work. The boys helped me pry nails, saw wood, and screw boards into place, and helped Tam move moss from our yard over into the medicine wheel they’ve been working on.

After that, it was six o’clock. They day had flown by. So, we did the only thing happy but exhausted parents should* do: picked up Hot-and-Ready pizza from Little Caesars. 🙂

We all chowed on the “za” while the boys watched a Hot Wheels movie until bedtime.

An all-around, awesome day.

Love, love.

*by “should”, I mean that’s all we had the energy for. ?

drumming fun!

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Yesterday the boys and I went to a drumming workshop at a wonderful fellow homeschooler’s house. It was very gracious of her, I must say, to have a house full of kids which I think totalled around 16 and all of us adults. Oh, and if you are getting that craving for something wonderful and sweet, you must check out her business and sink your taste buds into some of her beautiful sweet wonders! There really is no excuse needed, we all know that. 🙂

The kids, mine included, swarmed around the trampoline and I was wondering if I would be able to pull them off once Andrew came with the drums! I had nothing to worry about for when he arrived many children stopped whatever they were doing and helped bring the drums up onto the deck. There were enough drums for all children and some adults as well. I don’t know how he fit them all into his wee car. Must’ve been some magic involved.

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I was amazed at how keen and attentive all the children were from the little ones to the older pre-teens.L and X chose a drum each and followed along fairly well for never drumming before. We have two small bongos which I brought with us in case more were needed and we used these as well. I’m glad I did this because now I feel a bit more confident at home when the boys bring them out and bang, bang, bang. Now I think it will be more of a rhythmic rumble.

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At times, my boys took a break to do some jumping when their hands became red from the pounding. But, before long they were back again. I think the group and the primitive sounds of the drumming just makes you want to return and be a part of it.

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After all of the drumming, jumping and running around the boys were exhillarated and hot! We said our thank you’s and good bye’s then jumped into the car where the boys threw off their shirts and downed their water. Whew!

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We all enjoyed ourselves immensely and will certainly be back again. Thank you Andrew and Joanne for this wonderful opportunity!

 

Happy Mother’s Day

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Stephen let me sleep in a bit, which was nice and of course his intention as it is a day for mothers. Isn’t every day? 😉

I’ve become more familiar with Ayurveda and learned that I am a vata dosha, meaning many things but for this instance that my energy levels are at a peak in the wee hours of the morning and mid-afternoon. By 6pm I should be going to bed. That’s a challenge, of course as at 6pm I am usually on my way to work many days.

I took advantage of my usual 2:30/3 am wake-up and grabbed this book that has been whispering my name ever since I put it on hold at the library. It came in about a week ago but I was reading another book for book club and kept getting distracted because I wanted to start this one. So I did. In the middle of the night I picked it up. It is wonderful and feeds my soul.

I woke just after 9am and came down to smiling excited boys. L had drawn a map for me of our house. I had to find all of the spots marked with an ‘x’. There I would find a letter marked on paper. I had to collect all the letters.

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I have to say that L made an amazingly accurate map! The boys hid the letters in places that I wouldn’t go to before the morning came. Good thing. They were going to place one letter on or below the toaster but thought I may use it when I got home from shooting a wedding. They were right. Homemade bread toasted is perfect after a shoot. Good thinking!

Once I had all of the letters I had to rearrange them to make a word. At first I was stumped but figure it out:

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I looked in the dehydrator and there on the shelves inside were cards for me. Handmade by my three boys just for me. There is really nothing better than handmade love.

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Today we have the pleasure of picking up my mother from the airport for a two week visit. What perfect timing! We are all so excited and just can’t wait. She is one of the strongest people I know, as was her mother. I treasure our time together.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there, whether this be your first Mother’s Day or fortieth, whether you are a single dad or mom who has the job of being both mother and father (which I can say is amazing as my mother raised us on her own), a grandparent who is blessed to take part in the lives of their grandchildren, or a care-giver who takes the time to take care of others.

Perhaps you have lost your mother/grandmother or both and are missing them today. I feel they are with us now as they always have been, and are comforting us in spirit. Stop, close you eyes and you can feel their love. For me, it sends a coolness flowing through my spine, like fresh ocean air carried along on the breeze. I breathe it in.

Much love and blessings to all.

 

diy compost tumbler

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Last year a co-worker and I were talking gardening and composting. He played a video for me of a store-bought compost tumbler and the effect of the composting tea on your garden. It was amazing and I wanted one!

But, ‘eek!’ I say, to the price of $130 for a tumbler.

I just found this video on how to make your own tumbler and I have to say, it very well may be my next project. Oh, yay, more figuring and cutting! I understand the temptation of the store-bought variety of anything. It’s fast and easy. But, there is something to say for home-made that is for certain.

Think I need to put this on the ‘to-do’ list. Besides, our regular back yard composter is full and just not as interesting. It just sits there. 😉

Thinking about any interesting gardening projects? How about this one?

 

making a medicine wheel garden

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It has been a busy week over here. My mother is visiting come Mother’s Day so I am trying to get as much of the yard work and garden tending to as possible beforehand. It’s been a big job and the boys have been very helpful.

One of the ‘jobs’ I wanted to share with the boys was the making of a medicine wheel garden. We have a plethora of rocks of all types and sizes in our yard. Start digging and you are bound to find one. When I was digging out a spot for our cold frame last fall I came upon many rocks which I added to a pile already on the go. I had wanted to create a medicine wheel garden last year but, with the huge undertaking of our first veggie garden, the time got away from us. I checked out this book from our library a couple of times last year and again this year. It is on my ‘to buy’ list for anyone wondering (wink wink).

This book takes you through the history of the medicine wheel and explains its significance. The circle is an ancient symbol, a strong symbolic shape. Here is one of the many wonderful quotes in the book:

In many ways this circle, the Medicine Wheel, can best be understood if you think of it as a mirror in which everything is reflected. “The Universe is the mirror of the People”, the old teachers tell us (the teachers being Cheyenne ancestors), “and each person is a mirror to every other person.” Any ideal, person, or object, can be a Medicine wheel, a mirror for Man. The tiniest flower can be such a mirror, as can a wolf, a story, a touch, a religion, or a mountaintop.

– Hyemeyohsts Storm, Seven Arrows, 1972

This book has many interesting chapters of which I have not had a chance to read, yet. It has a great section on specific plants and is how I found out more about the amazing ‘old man’s beard’ that I have always seen on many trees in our parks.

It has a full description with many ideas for different types of medicine wheels. You can plant according to colours and their relation to North, South, East and West. There are also diagrams shown for best plants for different regions. I may use as reference the Coastal Medicine Wheel Garden. I noticed one design for the Desert Southwest Medicine Wheel Garden and thought of a friend of mine who has just recently moved to the Southwest States. Dawn, this may be right up your alley.

The rain is coming and it’s a new moon today. That gives me time to let ideas brew in my mind about what to plant in our medicine wheel. The area I chose is a very shaded corner protected from busy, running feet. I have found this book extremely helpful for listing many wonderful shade-loving plants. The timing was perfect when this book arrived just yesterday! It’s worth getting your hands on if you like to plant according to the moon phases and would like to include your children in the gardening fun. It even has a section on best plants for a moonlit garden and which plants are toxic. I had no idea that Moonflower was toxic!

So, as I got our tools ready the boys gathered the rocks from around the yard and from the previously formed pile of last year and created a new pile close to our designated spot. I love the way they think. They didn’t just create a pile but made a cave of rocks instead. One look and I wished we could keep it. They asked for a picture and then were okay with dismantling.

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I cleared away a section of the yard, moved the hosta and violets to another area nearby so they wouldn’t get trampled or quickly overtake the area of the wheel. Then we measured to find out how big we could make the wheel. Six feet was our maximum diameter and was bigger than I thought we would get. From here, we marked the middle with a beautiful white granite rock speckled with black. Then we found our co-ordinates with a compass and string. Now we had our North, South, East and West spots marked with the biggest rocks, and ones shaped like arrows, well kind of.

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Next, we gathered the rest of the rocks to make the final formation. The biggest rocks formed the outside circle. The many smaller rocks were used to create a little path to the centre. At first, I was planning on just making a single line to the centre from each co-ordinate but Xman wanted to be able to make a walking path leading to the middle. It was just big enough for smaller feet. We have a good amount of moss in our shady areas and plan on using this for the path. Now we just need to figure out what plants to add. It was a great collaboration and we all enjoyed taking in our creation once finished.

The sun was warming our backs while we worked and creating fun shadows from the tree branches – and me and my little camera. All this digging, rearranging and carrying made us all a little pooped so inside we went for orange juice snow cones!

Today the rain begins for days to come but when it stops, there will be many seeds to plant in the veggie gardens – with Nanna’s help! – and many herbs and other plants to attend to in our new medicine wheel. I look out the window and I smile. I feel we’ve added a little protection, a little blessing to our humble, small part of the Earth.

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