Hello, again.

Well it’s been a while since I last blogged. I didn’t want to write for the sake of writing nor did I even know what to write about.

So if you’re new here to my little part of the world, welcome!! I’m happy you’re here. Many things have changed since my last time, the biggest being my geographic location. My family and I including my mom moved from Ontario to New Brunswick. For those who don’t know their Canadian geography that’s 2 provinces over. 16 hours away from where we came from. We knew no one but felt called here. Don’t worry there will be more talks about that later.

For now I just wanted to reintroduce myself, let you know I’m here and can’t wait to share more with you.

Until next time,

Jen

A tribute to my Grandma

Audrey Ruth Hogan. She passed away peacefully on a sunny Tuesday morning, at the age of 93 and 3/4 years old. My Dad made it just in time to spend her last night here on earth with her in a private Hospital room. It was peaceful in there. A few hours before that my Mom came in to see her, she got to give her a proper good-bye as well as so many of her Grandchildren, Kids and Friends. Many tears were shed and no words left unspoken. I wish that when my time comes my family is around me, keeping a vigil at my beside until the Lord comes to take me home. I know that she was unable to speak but holding her hand, rubbing her head, wetting her mouth and speaking things to her she heard it all and felt noting but love.

Growing up she was a strict, not always the lovey dovey type, that’s for sure. She showed love thru baking and having her family in her home. My grandfather passed away 15 years ago and she managed the house by herself until 3 days before she passed. Her wish was to actually pass in her house but that was just not possible. It took a village to keep her in her house but it was an honour to serve her, most days. To say she was set in her ways is an understatement. She often said “I don’t understand how none of these girls (PSWs) know how to make a poached egg?!” I would laugh most days but some days I would say “Grandma they are here to help you, be grateful.” I can laugh now but one night I cooked her dinner and served it with a spoon, she looked at me from her chair and Said: “What’s this?! You don’t eat dinner with a spoon!” I was SO frustrated but now I look back and I’m thankful for those times I got to help her out. I am fortunate that I was the first Grandchild born to her. We traveled to the farm where my Aunt and Uncle lived via Greyhound bus many times. She would say I was her little buddy when I was growing up. She was a woman who hardly showed emotions but yet I didn’t doubt that she loved me. Many times my sister and I would spend weekends playing at her house. So many memories of that place, now will be just that memories, as the house will be sold shortly. It didn’t matter how many people there where she always found room.

In that 2 bedroom house she raised 3 crazy boys. Over the years I have heard stories of how they would chuck the youngest one into the wall as practice for hockey. How she would wax the floors and they would run and slide from the front door to the back. I remember hiding in the pantry that was always full ceiling to floor. That dining room has seen new relationships blossom as they are brought to a family dinner, marriages succeed and fail. Grand-kids and great grand-kids that gathered for Christmas and Easter dinners in that dining room. Sometimes there would be so many of us that some would eat in the kitchen and some in the living room but she loved it. She loved having her family around her especially at the holidays. This Christmas was an extra special one as most of us gathered for what we thought would be her last one. It was stressful for everyone. She was for the most part bed ridden but it didn’t stop her from drilling orders to the kitchen on how to make the turkey, stuffing etC. We said Grandma you may not be cooking this year but there is not a doubt that your hands have made it. It was so nice to have everyone there but deep down we all knew why we made it a priority.

She was blessed with 7 Grandchildren, and 3 Great Grandchildren. She loved us all but man, those Great Grand babies were her favorite. Thankfully both my sister and I made it a point to bring those kids to see her, cause you couldn’t deny how much they made her happy. The last time I brought my kids to see her at the house we had a talk about how “Gigi” was very sleepy and we need to be quiet. When we walked in and my kids went over to give her a kiss her eyes light up and she smiled at them before going back to sleep. My oldest who is 11 made the very brave decision to go to the hospital and say good bye. As a Mom it broke my heart to watch her as she held her hand, told her she was going to miss her and bawled her eyes out at her bedside. As she kissed her good bye my heart broke but I was so very proud of her and how she conducted herself in such an emotional situation. Her level of compassion and composure was beyond what I thought she could handle. We said to her that she was old enough to make that choice to go and I am so glad that we allowed that to happen.

I have learned from her how to cook new dishes that she loved. I mastered poached eggs 😉 that it is not about the size of your house, you can always make room. I learned what it means be a tough cookie, to fight for what you want and not to be pushed around by anyone. To take time to do the things you love and not never stop trying new things. Later on in life she loved to colour and did an amazing job of it!! She taught me the value of family meals not just on holidays but daily. Thursday dinners became a thing that we did with her and she always looked forward to it no matter how she was feeling. It started out last year by her cooking us dinner, then us doing it together to me cooking for all of us. She taught me that life will throw you curve balls but what you do with it is what matters not that its coming for you. She fought to the end for what she wanted and didn’t care who agreed or disagreed with her. Her noodle was sharp until the end and I pray that be the case for me. She was determined and never gave up. She adapted to what life threw at her and never looked backwards. She lived for today cause she would say who knows what tomorrow will bring, how true.

Grandma and I hanging out.

I am thankful for the time I had with her. I’m thankful for her back porch that swung babies, TV that keep them busy and a kitchen that kept their bellies full. I’m thankful for a giant backyard that kept us busy, that hosted parties and summer memories that were made. I’m thankful that she was a gatherer of her family. I don’t know what holidays without her will look like, but I know there will be stories told, dishes of hers used and laughs shared. I know she will be looking down from heaven cheering us on as we cook our different meals in our new holiday norm, teasing me for my lack of cooking abilities but most of all, smiling down on all of us. She made her mark on our lives and I’m so thankful for all the memories. Until me meet again Grandma, love ya!

Until next time, keep on Exploring life.

Jen

Update on Homeschooling

Well, we are back into the swing of life! Big changes in the way we School this year has taken place, or one –  we have a dedicated School room now, yeah!!!!! I LOVE this space. I feel that it allows the kids space to learn and be creative. I made my own bulletin boards for each of the kids complete with some “tips” to help them out as well as reward charts! I am all about the positive affirmations! In this post I will go into more detail as to how the reward charts work and what our homeschooling day typically looks like. One thing I would suggest and have found it to be invaluable is finding someone you can bounce ideas off of and to have some time to have a hang out, with the kids. For me I have formed a new friendship with someone whom we have some similar friends but never really hung out together. Well I am SO THANKFUL for this friendship!!! She is very creative, seems to know all the cool programs and websites and is so fun to hang out with! We both started around the same time homeschooling so we are both figuring this out together, it is also awesome to note that our husbands get along so even double dates have happened, well one double date has happened – but we had so much fun I know many more will happen! We have made it a priority to meet up once a week and go to the library. This is much for us as it is the kids. They get out and get to get new books and continue to learn and well, we get to sit and have a tea, or try to amidst many interruptions by our sweet babies.

Our typical day is pretty straight forward to be honest. We start our day by praying for whatever needs we find to be of importance, right now we are praying for our church’s second campus and a permit we need to get to open our doors! Then our family devotional and journaling. This book is new to our personal library, “Sheila Walsh’s Family Devotions”. Then we switch which one goes first doing their flash cards.  We switch between spelling for Kennedy and math and for Cole sight words and math. Then into the books they go. This year we switched from a computer based program curriculum to books. For Cole I made up a binder for the first 4 weeks which was all review of what we have done last year to make sure that his skills where sharp. Starting next week he is back to his grade 1 Complete Canadian Curriculum book as well as reading 9 pages from a level 1 reader, and 5 pages from a level 2 reader. Spelling is his area of opportunity so his day is heavy in reading. Kennedy is doing a grade 5 Complete math and English smart books as well as a grade 6 Complete Canadian Curriculum book for extra English, spelling, science and socials. She also has a Canadian geography book that gets done 2 times a week. Next month we are going to introduce French. We also signed up for Letters from Afar, I would recommend looking them up on Instagram! Monthly we get a letter from “Isabelle” who is an explorer and it tells of her adventures. We then go and do some research on where she is, some of the local things that are common and then do a small presentation with our friends. It’s a great way to teach them about the world, what other cultures do and also gives them public speaking experience. We have a giant wall map and when we get a new letter we move the arrow to show where Isabelle is for the month we are studying her. We also on the map have an arrow for a friend of ours who travels for Ministry, so the kids can also see how far he travels, where he travels too and gives them a visual of where in the world he is. The kids came up with the idea and I love it.

The reward charts are super fun! The kids each have 2 of them. Kennedy’s 2 are for good behavior/80% on tests and the other is for being patient with her Brother as he reads to her. I felt this was important to teach her patience, to show her that not everyone learns the same as you and to have pride in teaching her Brother how to read. Some days as I watch them, I am so happy I did this and other days I want to call it off! Cole’s 2 are for good behavior and his 2nd one is for reading to Kennedy with a good attitude. Lets be real, siblings don’t really like to work together a whole lot so this has been good for him to learn that his Sister wants to help him and for her to learn how to be gentle and kind in a leadership role while getting your point across. It also for both of them, I feel prepares them for marriage one day, not to each other let me clarify, lol. I often say “listen one day you will be married and that person won’t always make you very happy or might do things to anger you BUT your partners so you have to learn to work through it, speak to each other with kindness and respect so this is a training ground for your future marriages, WORK IT OUT”!! I figure it’s never too young to teach them lessons that will hopefully propel them into the future full of successes, time will tell.

Here are some pictures of what the school room looks like, before it gets messed up in a day.

 

 

 

 

Until next time, keep exploring life.

 

Jen

What I have learned from the man in the woods part 2

Well thanks for coming back, I have been so absent from the blog not because I don’t enjoy blogging but simply cause I didn’t put it as a priority in my life. SO that is going to change! Well here is part 2 of what I learned from my weekend in the woods with my Dad. If you missed part 1 here is the link https://wordpress.com/post/sarookj.wordpress.com/11981

 

My time with my Dad was something that I will look forward to again this year. What I learned was that, yes I can unplug and just enjoy the surroundings that are around me. It was amazing listening to my Dad talk about when He was growing up and listening to Him talk about his life at this cottage He calls home. It was awesome to listen to Him tell me to just relax, sleep in as long as possible, Ok! It was nice to wake up and my Dad had already made coffee and was outside cleaning up and had already feed the deer. It was cool and rainy while I was there, we still took walks and the rain didn’t bother us. We wandered around and he showed me some of his friends places and the Beaver dam that I had heard Him talk about for a while. It was nice to put an actual view to what I have heard Him speak about for a few years. It was nice to just watch Him enjoy telling me things and showing me around. It was nice to watch Him in His element and the pride He has in His tiny place in the woods. I really enjoyed waking up and walking around, hearing the birds and watching the deer that came to his place a couple times a day. It was peaceful taking my coffee to the covered bridge and watching the ever so slow stream go by. It was nice to just be and watch and absorb and exhale.

I went there at at time when things where out of sorts, upside down and when I found myself crying most of the drive up asking God “why am I in this season?!” I felt very alone, unsure of where relationships where heading and where I felt like my life was imploding back home. I felt like these few short days away, where there was no form of communication other then with my Dad who I felt I hardly knew, to a place I had only heard of was exactly what I needed. God knew I needed it. I had heard of time where people would say I just need to get away and clear my head, I would think, why?! I got it. I got away and cleared my head. I came back more connected with my Dad, and with a clearer view of life back home. What did I learn when I was away?

I learned that its not about “stuff” my Dad lives a very simple life, in a very simple place but I believe He is the happiest I have seen him in years. I learned its important to carve out time for yourself doing what you love. My Dad loves being out in the woods, with his deers and putting around the cottage, I enjoyed taking time to colour in my adult colouring books, I need to do that more. I learned that its not only ok to unplug but you won’t die doing it. You really don’t miss much by unplugging. There would be NO way I could catch up on my Facebook timeline for the 4 days I was away. Guess what? No one said did you see…blah blah blah, I really didn’t miss much. If it was that important then a few people knew how to get a hold of me if need be. I also learned that I do have stuff in common with my Dad and when given the time I can learn from Him. I also learned that God is full of surprises. I learned that my Dad reads his Bible daily  and that he feels a peace and calmness that comes upon Him when he does. I learned to take time out for those that have gone before you because one day they won’t be there and you won’t get the chance to ask them. I also learned, don’t be scared to ask. What is the worst they say, “I don’t want to talk about it!” So you move on, and continue the conversation. Who do you need to let into your life that may of caused pain to you in the past? Of course this comes with boundaries and wisdom as to who that person may be. Life is short and we need to let God move so we need to get out of the way and stop trying to avoid those God given chances to connect with others.

 

Until next time,

Jen

 

 

 

 

 

 

A weekend in the woods with a man I hardly know.

It sounds weird doesn’t it, the choice to spend a weekend in the woods with a man I hardly knew?! Well it’s true I did. It was back in October. I made the drive alone, 5.5 hours away from home, to a place I knew only a little bit about growing up to meet up with Him. The plan was to stay in the city, but I knew how much He loved his little place in the woods. After only a couple of days in the city, I insisted we go to the cottage in the woods. He reminded me that it’s 4.4 km in the woods with no cell reception, no one really around at the base of a mountain. I said I’m excited to see it! Inside I was actually a bit scared to be honest. NO contact with the outside world?! Just him and I in this cottage…While fear ran through my mind, I have never been alone with this man for at least 30 years, what will we talk about? What if there is awkward silence? What if I just hate it and want to go home? Did I mention, what will we talk about?!

Let me give you some history, so that you can understand why I was so nervous to spend time alone with this man in the woods, who is my Dad. My Mom and Dad meet when they were very young, and then when they were not that much older, decided to get married. My mom was 18 and my dad 20 at the time. A year later I was born, and at the time my mom was 19 and 5 days later turned 20. Needless to say, I am to this day, the best birthday gift she has ever received.. Shortly after I was born, things began to change for them. Just like his parents, my Dad got into drinking, and would become violent and miserable. He would go on hunting trips and return whenever He wanted.  They tried to make things work again once my sister came along but by then, my Dad was in deep into drinking and drugs. We moved many times cause of the type of people my dad was in “business” with. From a young age I remember watching my Dad deal drugs, get violent, make and break plans and then one day, he just disappeared. The lifestyle of moving around a lot continued for many years and even included a whole city change when I was 10 years old.

One day I was visiting my Grandmother and She had some company that was over, some family from the Ottawa area. I really feel like this was a moment I will never forget, it was a cool summer day and my 2nd cousin and I were sitting outside on my Grandmothers large swing with the woven plastic cushions. My Cousin said to me “we went to Uncle Mark’s for dinner. Whitney is SO nice and a great cook and the baby is super cute” well uncle Mark was my Dad. I don’t remember acting shocked but I said, Mark as in my Dad?! Keep in mind, He feel off the face of the earth, 6 years ago. My own Grandmother swore up and down to my Mom that She had no idea where Her son, my Dad was. I remember being so hurt, shocked, and yet excited.  As soon as my Mom picked us up She knew something wasn’t right. I told Her what I was told and well, my Grandma got a call and not long after that my Dad called my Mom. It was true He was living in the Ottawa area with Whitney and they had a little Baby. By now I am in grade 8, because life at that age isn’t confusing enough! He ended up coming back to Hamilton for a visit and brought Whitney and the Baby for my Sister and I to meet. After that meeting in the winter, my Mom and Her husband at the time took us to their place and let us stay for a week. My Mom and Her husband stayed in the area for a few days before heading back home to make sure we were ok and comfortable. My sister and I ended up making the journey to our Dad’s for years to come in the winter and summer, but I had never been alone with him. I do have some memories of time with my Dad, doing puzzles, cooking him fake food, and playing in parks but there was always someone else there. My Sister then once I got married, my husband and kids, when we would e visiting him. This was a big step for me, but I knew God had my back.

Part 2 will talk about what it was like being alone with my Dad, and what I learned from him while I was there.

The first picture was after a walk we took in the city, and my Dad explaining to me about the mushrooms that where growing in the park. The 2nd one is of the deer at the cottage that come 2 times a day for apples, Mama and Jr.

 

Until next time,

 

Jen

 

 

 

 

 

We are Homeschooling!! Part 2

So in my previous post I began to tell you how we got to where we are now, Homeschooling. It has been a journey. When I first felt that question pop into my head, why not Homeschooling? to now, it has been 2 years. I began to do research on my own and I knew I would have to present my case (so to speak) to my husband because, to be honest, this was coming out of left field! I began to get excited about setting up our house for Homeschooling in a room on the 2 second floor and all the fun possibilities that could be. Now, thankfully our kids were in an amazing private school, so there was no need right away to act on this, yet another reason it comes out of nowhere! I spoke with Mark about what I felt God was saying, and well, his reaction was one of less then impressed with the idea.  I left it with him and spoke with that friend who I wasn’t so supportive towards. I wanted to tell her how I was feeling and get some input from her. It was now 6 months later and a new school year was fast approaching. I wanted to know what its like to Homeschool, and she suggested we do more research and wait. Gather more information to see if its something I really wanted to do, and Mark and I needed to be on the same page. Well I was discouraged but understood where she was coming from, the timing wasn’t the greatest and it would be rushed.  Mark and I were on board late in the summer, as in August! We were scared, excited and a bit nervous but we knew that this is what we wanted to do, so we decided to jump both feet in and Homeschool this year.

 

We are using an online based curriculum from http://elementaryplanet.com. It has made life easier because I am a planner in many ways but would have no a clue what to use, curriculum wise. It lays it all out and we just help them along the way. Now, we do utilize some paperwork as well. Such as printing for Cole and cursive writing for Kennedy. They also have offline projects to do and sheets we print off to help them along the way. The program isn’t perfect but for the most part it is working for us. Maybe next year we move back to text books and paper, who knows. Really that has been the best part, flexibility! I’m not a huge fan of every day, day in and day out schedules. I get bored of them and find them less then exciting. Now don’t get me wrong, we do have a daily schedule we follow but some days we have field trips with our Homeschooling group or we go out and help my Grandma. If the kids are done early we can go visit family or go to the park, if they’re not done early, well you can image how that goes. Each day is different and brings about its joys and challenges.

 

Remember how I said I don’t edit my blog cause my grammar is awful, well I feel like I’m back in school because Kennedy is in Grade 5 and heavy into grammar in her English work…..borrrrring. I mean you need to learn it sweet girl 😉 Thankfully my husband Mark and I are a team and where I lack He picks up the slack. Some days I just want to yell I DON’T KNOW FIGURE IT OUT! but instead I breathe, sit down, and try to figure it out together. I’m not ashamed to say to her, I don’t get it lets Google it. Even less ashamed to say, wait to ask Daddy when He gets home. Both kids have adjusted well to being home and doing school online. It amazes me to see Cole learning words and spelling!!! He is rocking his program and loving it! Math is totally his thing for sure! Kennedy has had some struggles but it is nice to be able to cheer her on, encourage her and support her to be all she can be. She is doing amazing as well and has taken a liking to cooking, and I’m ok with that. Homeschooling just isn’t about books, its about learning thru experiences. Bringing the books to life, if you will. I look forward to sharing more of our journey, the great and not so great parts because that’s life, not every day is amazing but you can find amazing things in every day.

An afternoon at the local park, chatting with Great Grandma, PJ days and baking cookies. Which is basically, gym, social studies, learning to rest and math. Because Homeschooling is all about life long learning.

 

 

Until next time,

 

Jen

We decided to Homeschool! Part 1

Well, I’m back at it! I have not been on here much. I just felt I needed a break and as you can tell we have made some big life changes. I look forward to sharing all that’s going on in our life right now and what is to come. Have a great day and enjoy.

 

I find it so funny, as the words ” I will never….” roll off my tongue, I almost feel like God is saying, “Oh yeah? Wait and see what I have in store for you!” Now, the times that I have said that phrase, and God makes the opposite happen, it has ALWAYS been a blessing! So when I say what I did, it is in no way a mean or malaise type of thing, but one of love and I have a “sense of feeling” humor. So as you can guess, Homeschooling was “one of those times”. In fact a friend of mine started homeschooling many years ago and I wasn’t supportive or encouraging at all, just the opposite! Now here I am 8 years later, homeschooling!

 

It was a journey to get here. It wasn’t some deep desire in my heart to do this. It wasn’t a dream that I had and felt the need to do it. It wasn’t even something I could see myself doing to be honest.  Having kids has taught me that as humans we are selfish. They expect us to do everything for them from the day they are born, and depending how you raise them, hopefully not their whole life. Then we become adults, still selfish at times, well most of the time. I wouldn’t consider myself overly selfish but the thought of homeschooling made me realize how selfish I can be. How would I do what I want to do during the day when they would be home all the time?! What about “Free time” during the day to have coffee with my husband,  hang with friends,  nap, do what I want to do!? Well, here I am, homeschooling. Free time is limited but I am OK with it. How we got here, well only God can make that happen! I was working full time with great people but with a commute and job I didn’t love. I was putting away stock at work when all of a sudden I had this question pop in my head, “why not Homeschool???”….. I looked around to make sure no one was around as I began to think and daydream about such things. I thought maybe it was the stress I was under, because there is no way God you’re asking me to do this, cause i said I would nev……er oh boy!

I didn’t go running home telling my husband with great joy and excitement hey I think we should Homeschool, because to be honest I felt like such a hypocrite. All those years ago being, well, mean to be honest, and now here I was thinking about it?! I began to read blogs, Pintrest ideas, and speak to other Moms I know who do. I felt scared but excited but worried about what will people think?! I don’t feel like I fit  “Homeschooling Mom” mold so to speak. I am not soft spoken, Suzy Homemaker, Martha Stewart, Bill Nye the Science Guy type person. My personality fits more of the corporate world. I’m great with people and sales, not so much at math, science and english. I don’t edit my own blog cause my grammar is well, really bad lol.  I will share in part 2 how we got here and what life is like now, 4 months in. Thanks for coming along for the ride.

These pictures are from a field trip we took to Westfield Heritage Village.

 

Unitl next time,

 

Jen

Thankful

I wanted to share something I got to witness first hand. What is it that I got to see? Well, it’s something sadly we don’t see often, almost a lost concept to some. What I saw was many people putting their lives aside to care for another person. That other person was me! The ones who laid their lives aside were my family and friends.  This was almost a year ago and the impact that it had on me has stuck with me, and I wanted to share it with you.
It all began as a nice fun night out with 2 of my best friends, also named Jen. These are my “ride or die” friends, my squad, my chosen sisters, the ones come hell or high water are there, the type you can call at 3am and know they would be there for you…I think you get the idea. Well it was Jen M’s birthday and we were having amazing an conversation and food. As I took my last bite and sent a text off, all of a sudden a sharp pain began in my stomach. I thought maybe gas or food poisoning that came on abnormally fast. I insisted they finish dessert and I would go lay in the car and come out whenever they were done. Now, because they are the type of friends I described them as, they grabbed the dessert to go and against my will they rushed me to the emergency department to get checked out.
They stayed with me all night and all the next day. After 36 hours of being up I insisted that they go home, change and shower. Another friend of ours also was so sweet and packed them a lunch so they wouldn’t lose strength trying to stay with me. So with hesitation they did leave to go shower and eat, and I slept as now I was on some crazy heavy meds. Beause they are also the type of friends I said they are, they made sure to get me on video chatting away while high as a kite. I just love them!!!!!

Over the next 3.5 days we laughed, I cried and we created great memories, especially as more people like my Mom and other friends showed up. It turns out my gallbladder wasn’t happy and wanted out. So I had semi-emergency surgery after being in the hospital for 2.5 days. I was calm and really felt peaceful once I got into the operating room, because I knew God was with me and my team was waiting for me. My Mom and Tall Jen bathed me…that’s right my Mom and best friend had to shower me, talk about being in a desperate situation for a shower and taking friendship to a new level. I was thankful to my mom and Tall for taking on this task because I couldn’t do it alone.

My Husband played a very important role also. I insisted he stay at home with the kids. I wanted them to know I was ok and led as normal of a life while I was in the Hospital. This was the first time anything like this had happened to me, So I knew keeping things as regular as possible was key. He did amazing, despite the fact I was in the Hospital, He ran the ship at home. The kids where comforted and felt no need to worry about Mommy,  because Daddy was there to keep things stable and as normal as possible. It was so nice not having to worry about where they going to be after school and pick ups etc. He continued to be a help at home while I recover as I can’t lift anything over 10lbs for 4-6 weeks. So laundry was allllll his 😉 He also was holding down his job, working crazy hours while I was in the hospital.

My Mom put her whole week on hold to help care for me. She was awesome at knowing what I needed and ensuring I drank lots of water. She was there to help me up the first time post op and as one of the incisions began to leak from getting up and, as blood ran down my leg she kept me calm. She was there to rub my legs as I cried from a painful needle. She prayed over me, fed my friends and filled the room with laughter and love, in a way that only a Mom can do, even knowing I’m in my mid 30s, I still needed my Mom there.

Tall Jen (She’s the tallest of the Jens, and when 3 of you are named Jen and are best friends, nicknames are a necessity)..this chick who by the way at the time was waiting for her own surgery for a hip tear, slept in a chair and in a busy TV room the night I was recovering from surgery. In the ER she advocated for me to get a room, meds and she even collected my pee sample and carried it around for 20 minutes. She had me laughing so much that after surgery I was crying and holding my incisions. She stepped in and helped out a for the first week I was home recovering on the days Mark had to work. She got the kids up, dressed, fed and off to school the mornings so I didn’t have to. She kept me company, we had naps and binge watched TV.

Jen M…the birthday girl. Well she sacrificed her birthday to be with me. That’s enough there but she was a great purse watcher, ran my phone and communication to everyone. She brought food to the hospital and a meal to our house. She was a much needed cheerleader and a calm in the storm. She dropped everything when we got the call for surgery and showed up before I went in and was there when I got out. She was transportation for my kids to and from school as well when Mark was working.

There was so many people who also played a role with providing meals for the week for my family. Who prayed, visited, called and sent text messages. I am so thankful for each person who called, text, visited and helped out. I completely recovered and thankfully haven’t had any long term side effects that can you can get from not having your gallbladder. The lesson in this is, surround yourself with right type of people. Not because you expect them to drop everything for you, but because in great times and in times of trials they are there for you. You are not meant to do this thing called life alone! Make 2018 a year marked by great relationships. Love those special people in a radical selfless manner and watch how rich your life becomes.

Millier keeping warm,  and my Mom taking off my nail polish.

My day nurse, Tall Jen

Some flowers I got!

One of the many dinners we received.

Nap time! Taking care of me is exhausting 😉

Staring down at a new season pt2

Come September my little guy goes to school and I re-enter the workforce. I know the 1st day of school will be emotional but what happenes the days and weeks to follow is what scares, worries and makes my heart sad and excited. I am thankful that I will be able to make money, work with adults and know my kids education is top notch. That makes it easier but its the days that my kids are sick and I won’t be the one to comfort them like I could before, the school trips that I will have to coordinate in a new way and face the reality that I won’t be able to go on every trip like before. I won’t be the one to greet them after school, but they will be in the care of someone else. I won’t be the 1st one who gets to hear about their highs and lows for the day, to be the homework enforcer or at the dinner table every night.

With all these changes comes a peace, I will admit along with lots of tears, knowing just like before when I worked full time God takes care of it all. I knew at some point this season would end but, it seemed to creep up on me. Don’t get me wrong I am very excited about going to work! It will be nice to have to get all dolled up, meet new people, develop new relationships and contribute financially to our household. I am excited to plan a family vacation for next year, to be able to give more to people in need, to pay down debt and to feel less of a burden when an expense comes up. I will say though, I wouldn’t change what has happened in the last 4 years. We have learned alot about each other, what we can live without and overall God is in control and life really is better with less!!! I know it will be a transition for all of us but I know God has called us into a new season.

Now that I’m staring down at a new time it makes me really realize that the days are long but the years are short. We often say before we know it they will be off in college and getting married and wow is that ever true! It seems like just yesterday we where planning the arrival of our 2nd child and now he is off to school in 6 weeks and turning 4! My oldest I feel is 7 going on 17 but I’m finding joy even in the girl drama. As kids we can’t wait to be teenagers, teenagers can’t wait to be adults, adults can’t wait to get married and have kids(if that’s your desire) and then as adults we want it all back. I don’t want to get to the end of my life and feel I didn’t let me kids interrupt me cause I was so busy being an adult that I missed building Legos, playing dolls, colouring or playing in the park. I want to soak it all in cause just like that newborn baby smell it all goes away one day, too quickly. Enjoy today, live for today and let tomorrow take care of itself.

Making memories and sand castles at the beach!

Walking to school to pick up his sister.

Starting down at a new season.pt1

Relief, tears, and alot of how is this going to work?! is what goes on in my mind during the day. See this month marks exactly 4 years ago I said good bye to my job and Hello full time motherhood. I entered into this season with high hopes, fantasy like dreams and alot of unknowns. I only really raised my first kid for a year then most of it was done by amazing babysitters. I was a part time Mom but a full time employee. The second one rolls around and now I’m the one who has full responsibility. How I wish I had the first one full time to raise cause nothing could prepare me for him. I am so very thankful for this season thou, I have grown as a Mom, Wife and Woman. I have learned patience in a new way, its ok to be the Mom in WalMart with a screaming child and a sick kid can only be healed by prayer and lots of cuggles(that’s what we call cuddles in this house) from a Mama.

Now it’s time to move on. My reality has been for 4 years, if I can find childcare to hang out with my friends during the week at a cottage, I’m free, or I don’t want to put on clothes today, PJ day would be claimed for the day! I knew as the school year drew to a close this was my last summer of “freedom” and I planned on making the most of it. I feel we have had a great summer so far, park time, hikes, sleepovers at Nana and Papa’s house…oh how I love summer days! I’m planning a beach day this week because we can! I just find it hard to wrap my mind around the fact it’s almost 1/2 over!!!