My little boy had a birthday !

Liam and I had all kinds of ideas of how to celebrate his special day.....sadly none of them quite came together has we hoped.......so we decided to have a do over and share Mother's Day....:)  When he woke he ate leftover birthday dessert for breaky, we re-lit his birthday "8" candle & I sang my little heart out as requested.  We snuggled and planned out our day......after church we would head to Keogh Lake for a couple of hours to hang with friends and enjoy the sunny day we had been gifted......

We ended up staying until after 7pm.....the sun was warm & lovely.  We had GREAT company, happy dogs and endless snacks.......It was a lovely day !!

Keisha gets her wheels.....

Several weeks ago I was chatting with our learning consultant Wendy.  We got talking about some of my ideas/plans for the kids.  One had been trying to figure out a safe supportive way for Keisha to ride a bike on her own.  All the low cost options were looking like they wouldn't work for us and I was doing a little thinking out loud about how I would possible pay for one of the more expensive options.  A short while I received an email saying for me to go order that bike.....that the funds had been approved from her " Special Ed" funding through homeschool !!!   So I did !!!  It took a couple of weeks to come in, then a couple of more weeks to put it together and make arrangements to get it home.  This past Friday I put out an invitation for our local friends to stop by the elementary school parking lot to share in a special event......my big girl got to try out her new set of wheels...:)  I'm so thankful for this gift and she's so thrilled to be able to ride with the others !!!

Friday Home Learners Group - growing borax crystals & making silly putty

A new adventure for my big boy !!

 He's so excited !!

 and what a trooper......2 hrs in the chair !!

Getting a thorough lesson in how to care for his mouth/teeth/braces.......so far he's been doing a really good job.......Aunty Cheryl you would be so proud !!

a special trip......

Wordless Wednesdays

 - a little jam & toast snack......

Home Learners Group - Birds

This Friday Liam, Keisha & I had the pleasure of joining in on a day all about our local birds.  We started out meeting up at Ms. Hannah's where we visited, read some books on birds, listened to bird song and made bird houses with Grandpa Paul who was visiting all the way from England.

I needed to head out at the half way point....Keisha & Liam were welcomed to stay on their own.......Mrs. Neilson arrived shortly after I left at that point they continued on with building their bird houses and enjoyed a walk about looking for and discussing the local birds in our area.   Thanks everyone for a great day !

We have a WALL !!!

The first block being place !!!!

Our third load of blocks being unloaded....

We did have one small hiccup in the day......we all happen to look away at the exact same moment and the hydro line got caught on the digger and out it came......it added a little bit of excitement.....no one was hurt and it was an easy-ish fix.....we did need to call BC Hydro.....they came in a timely manner and were super friendly and charming and well...pretty easy on the eyes....:)

By the end of the day we had stage one of the wall done !  It was so much fun stomping around in the mud with the guys.  The guys I have helping me on the project are just the best.  There respectful and funny, there's been NO talking down to me because " I just a girl and what would I know any ways", sadly something that I still witness and experience on occasion.  They have been great!

a little kitchen time......

This afternoon I decided I was in the mood to do some concentrated kitchen time.  I enjoy the creative process.....I like challenging myself with new recipes or adaptions.......I thrive on the challenge of working my budget to allow us to eat the absolute best food I can provide.....I  relish in the peace that comes over me as I get into the zone......I soak in the " Good Mommy" energy that fills me has I create yummy goodness for my family.

We enjoy " Crisps" in this house.  This one is made from a mix of frozen peaches, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries & cranberries.  Today I made a topping with gluten free oats, rice flakes, cinnamon, ground & whole flax, vegan soy free margarine and a small amount of brown sugar.

As Liam requested some gluten/dairy/soy/nut free chocolate chip cookies and some applesauce muffins.  Some with with pecans for Anthony & Keisha and some without for the rest of us.
 

This morning we had buckwheat/rice pancakes.  I made a huge batch so that we can reheat them over the next couple of mornings.  Sometimes with pure maple syrup & vegan margarine.  Sometimes with nut butter and homemade jams.  We'll be having Tuna salad mix & Chicken Quesidia's ( made with corn tortillas) for this weeks lunches.  I've pulled out the Chicken stock to thaw in preparation for this weeks soups.  I'm thinking Butternut Squash and Vegetable rice.  The rice cooker is on and the Greek seasoned Chicken Breasts are roasting.

The beginning of this week will be quite busy.  We're going to start placing the blocks amongst other things.  My puttering today will provide me with many stress free meals through out this upcoming week and help in the never ending mission of feeding my small little tribe.  I LOVE how well they eat and how they appreciate good food....:)

Peace/Respect/Caring

Here I am sitting at my desk enjoying a lovely bowls of homemade soup, the " bigs" are out, Liam is quietly enjoying some computer time on the laptop, Ana's sitting at the table working on her badge work for Guides and Tyler has finally top screeching at us and is happily nibbling away....:)

( Homemade Chicken Vegetable Rice Soup )

Yesterday was an interesting day.  I was being reminded all over the place that " Drama" is an addictive thing and how much I dislike being around it.  There was a time where the " drama" creating scenerio was usually consider an aspect of being a youth and finding your way or a sign of a low self esteem.  Something that is usually grown out off or kept in check once a person reaches adulthood.  Not so much anymore ....it's every where!  I've never really enjoyed being around these events and have tried my best to avoid them.  I'm at the point that I can't even tolerate fictional story lines on show or in movies that contain that " catty" element.  We don't have cable anymore and I don't miss it at all !  The few shows that I did enjoy I can watch online or enjoy when we stay at a motel.   I've stop participating in play groups and online support groups that seem to be all about complaining and attacking others for their choices or feelings. There's a difference between a person coming to a another and sharing the details of a difficult period/incident in their life for support and the person who is always complaining and stirring up conflict ! It's all so negative and emotionally draining....I really don't understand how people have the energy for it. 

Now onto a more up lifting subject......SPRING !! 

Our sensory holiday is going very well.....the weather is slowly warming up and the flowers are starting to pop their lovely heads out.  I'm looking forward to getting my hands back into the dirt.  We're now going to have so much more useable yard.  It's going to be so nice to be able to let Piper play off leash.  I'm full of ideas and plotting all kinds of projects.  I'm trying not to get to ahead of myself.  The retaining wall & fencing is going to eat up most of our improvements budget.  We're going to have to take a break and do a little more saving up before moving any further......patience is a virtue !

Smile it's a wonderful day....enjoy it !!