Almost outta here...

Well...as of today there are 5 more sleeps until my family boards the plane for Aruba!! I cannot wait to walk through the sand in my bare feet.  I cannot wait to watch my kids lazing around on the beach!  I think it will be wonderful.  Aruba only has 90,000 population.  The island is about 19 miles across!  They speak dutch, portugese, spanish & english.  I hear there is a street festival akin to a mini Mardi Gras while we are there along with a cattamaran regatta, & a trip to the butterfly sanctuary.  We will lay around on the beach, snorkel, eat good food...maybe the parents will partake in some nightlife!  Can't wait to be away together as a family with Grandma too!!  The boys are not happy about missing hockey.  Jordan is distraught at the homework he will have when he returns but other than that..we are ready to board that plane!!

Handsome...isn't he?!

Wow!  Been a long time since I posted!  I had my handsome 15 year old son's pictures taken a few weeks ago.  He refused his Grade nine grad....hence, no pictures!  I wanted to celebrate in some way that he moved into High school so I had Epic Photography capture him doing what he loves best!  It strikes me each time I look at him just how grown up he is becoming.  Soon, he will graduate, (not that I am wishing my time away with him), he informs me he wants to leave home & head off to a post secondary institute.  I know it won't be close to home.  He is ready for change.  He is ready to grow up even if we aren't!  I hope he knows that no matter where he goes or what he does...home is where I hope his heart lies... just like he takes a piece of us when he goes!

A little diddy about the rain

Wow!  We have rain...& not just a little bit!!  The school is closed today because the highway is somewhat washed out!!  Some people hate the rain.  I kinda like it!  Maybe not this much of it but it washed away the dirt & debris left from the winter.  The plants, trees, shrubs & grass have a nice long drink.  It is cuddle weather & crafting & baking weather!  There are blessings in everything we are given but you sometimes have to look for them! 

free to be...

wow!!  this has been the end to an amazing weekend.  There was a little bit of planting, some relaxing, a movie, lots of soccer, beautiful weather & time together!!

we wrapped up another obligation this weekend.  I no longer have to take part in our local festival (very small scale) called Dunmore Daze.  Kevin & myself as well as a neighbour, worked on the games for the kids part.  I collected over 300 prizes & masterminded the games.  This was not a commitment I made for myself & one I am not sure I will continue with.  I just know that I don't have to do anything with it anymore.  One less thing tying me down....I am free to be!

So today, I will help a friend for a while & then I will push forward with all I have to accomplish in my own house.  Just in time for the kids to arrive home from school.  We will have supper & enjoy another evening of soccer & togetherness!!  I hope everyone feels a full with life (happy) as I do!!

Feeling on top of the world!!

Hey all...been feeling so good.  On so many levels.  Even a visit from Mother Nature could not make me sad.  I had a blast this last few days!  Doing things that I love.  Got to see my favorite band, spend time with a few of my favorite people, & shopping in the big city.  Kay, it was a little more than that.  I have been painting a little & building a little & it feels darn good to be able to help a friend out even if she is doing all the choosing & I am simply & gently guiding her to make a choice!! Even bigger than that, I see people every day who are jealous or sad or mad & I don't want to be in those moods.  It feels so much better being thankful for all that God has given me.  I am blessed beyond measure & that is what my focus should be on...

I am not saying (little dis-qualifier here) that I am never going to get in those moods cause let's face it...everyone has a bad day here & there!  I just know I want to spend more time on the positive side of things.  When you don't, you lend yourself to speculation & you can become paranoid.  If you stay positive as much as you can, that is what you bring into your life.  There are some people I know (& it makes me so sad to watch them) struggle through the turbulence.  There are those who live in the turbulence because they thrive on others misfortune & sadness because they don't EXPECT more for themselves!!  How pitiful when they become mean & make others their target!!

So if any of this makes sense...love yourself & all the things you DO have.  Don't worry about the things you don't have for sometimes they can be a burden....

Today...

I found the above quote when I couldn't sleep the other night.  I thought I should have it somewhere on my blog.  I love the colors, the layout, but mostly, it is the sentiment!!  What a feel good statement!!

So, today has been one of those empty kind of days!  The kind where you know there is so much to do but you have no energy or gumption to do what needs to be done.  Here we are on the long weekend & I have watched a little bit of (okay, ALOT) of TV.  Maybe thrown in a bit of laundry, a couple loads of dishes in & out of the dishwasher, & not much else.  I am honestly not feeling great either.  A head cold, & headache are not helping me find that energy!!

On the upsides, we sold our trailer.  I guess I did clean it out before they came to pick it up.  Selling the trailer is bittersweet for us.  Kevin is usually too busy in the summer months to get away but when he can, it is awfully hard for the 5 of us to fit comfortably in that trailer!  Maybe we will look at a bigger but used one in the coming year!  Something with a slideout.  It will have to depend on finances & time available.  Our lives really are full, so if it doesn't happen, there will be something else that fills the void.  I suppose that means that tomorrow, I should get myself out to the garage & sort through the bins that were in the trailer!  An hour or two & I can say that I have accomplished something this weekend.  All I really wanted was to create something or scrapbook a few pages but as I said, I could not find the energy I needed to do so but tomorrow is another day!

I am hoping next week to help T.E. paint her basement.  So far, we have ordered doors & some new windows, as well as blinds.  With a little luck, our long awaited sofa will be delivered & we can give the one here to T.E. so we can start decorating their basement once it is painted!  Her boys will be lucky.  We are creating a playroom for them, getting the family room to be a useful space & then finally, we will tackle her scrap room!  I am mostly excited for that task!  Maybe she will give me the honor of posting some pictures when we get it done.  I hope I can live up to her expectations for making it more homey!!

Love... sweet Love

Been thinking & I know that LOVE makes the world go round.  It picks you up when you are down, it carries you through the most difficult times & so very much more.  I reflect often on what my family does for me.  I feel very dissatisfied in the moment sometimes.  Take Mother's day for example.  My boys were dirtbiking & swimming, my daughter was at a sleepover, & my hubby spent the day enraptured by the tv.  Now to his credit he did offer to do something although neither of us had any good ideas whatsoever.  So game after NHL game prevailed on the screen while I played on my computer, had a bath & moped.  The gift unveiling was a sordid affair.  Not one of the children were there to bear witness to my excitement (oh yeah, there was none), & nothing was wrapped.  I recieved a Snuggie, an "I Love you Mom" mug, and 2 (2 for $10) candles in putrid scents.  But alas, I am not going to complain because I know it is more than some of my counterparts receive.  

What I did LOVE was the card from my children.  They each wrote down a favorite memory of time spent with me!!  Priceless!  Jordan ventured to recall a time when we were camping with out his Dad & it was raining!  While Brendan & Megan watched television, Jordan & I played games all day long.  Brendan's recollection was one of the times when I went to the school to defend his honor against a poor teacher.  He was in the office in another area from me & he could hear things getting quite heated with his principal.  He loved that the principal kept saying "Sherri, Sherri" & I continued my rampage until all of my thoughts were out & on the table.   Then my sweet little Megan said the least of all...simply put, "Disneyland".  I wish she had been more explainatory but she was probably off to pack for her friends when her Dad was tyring to wrangle them all to sign the card!  Nothing gets in the way of her plans...rarely!!  So in short, I know that I have impacted each of my children in one way or another.  I just don't always see the moment at the time.  I know that each one of them knows without a doubt that I LOVE them very much.  I also know that even though they may get mad at me and utter the words "I HATE YOU", that deep down they really do LOVE me too!!

I can't expect them to know at any given moment what I would like most. It isn't their job to know me.  It is their job to be kids vulnerable to the ways of the world & I am to LOVE and guide them through it all the very best that I can.  So, I will continue my journey with them, making sure that they know that my LOVE knows no bounds & I will guide each of them with LOVE & understanding even if it isn't popular in the moment!!  Jordan, Brendan & Megs...I LOVE YOU!!