Tag Archives: laughter

happiness

Ride a moose 

Today was a just Jacob  day in the house. We hit the Watermill Bakery in Cochrane for some much needed bread products (mmmmm there is nothing like good, fresh bread), ran some errands, and then headed home for equally needed naps. I love that this kid appreciates his quiet time, mama gets tired.

After a quick shut eye we grabbed my mom and headed to Canmore for a big ole’ mountain hug. Well, and a trip to Nutters because I really wanted to find Spices Sanctuary products and check them out (specifically I wanted hing, it’s not as easy to find organic hing as you would maybe think). I found what I needed and a whole lot more. Even Jacob was excited because there was a giant wall of jellybeans over in the bulk section.

mountain hug
The best past though came later when we were looking in stores. We found this funny little moose, and Jacob decided to go out for a quick ride. I love that he’s free spirited enough to let go and have fun in the moment. We did a lot of laughing today.

ride a moose

My happiness moment was when he said you know mom, I’ve laughed more today with you than I have in a long time. This was fun. I’m so thankful that my teen actually likes spending time with me.

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happiness

Sew it together 

My happiness moment today was being with Jenna and our multi talented friend Alysha while she helped Jenna with her Christmas projects. 

Jenna loves to sew and has been wanting to for so long. Now between her Grandma and Alysha she’s got some wonderful teachers.

This definitely falls under the it takes a village to raise a child motto as this is not a skill she will be learning from her mother. I am so grateful we have this awesome tribe of people around us. 

   

A bonus happiness giggle was when Jenna put down her almost empty glass of eggnog tonight and left the room. Ella the cat thought she was alone in the kitchen so she jumped up on the table and tried to fit her face in the glass for a little drink. When that didn’t work she stuck her paw way down in the glass, scooped up some eggnog and brought her paw up to her mouth for a little lick. She sat by the glass doing this over and over until Jenna came back into the room. Then she hopped off the table and pretended nothing had happened. 

Jacob and I were in the next room howling with laughter.  

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The digestive fire

  
Jacob: bwaahaaaa Jenna, I made your water gross. I put in mostly hot and then some cold so it’s a disgusting warm temperature. 

Jenna: that’s ok. That’s how I like it. 

Me: exactly. That’s how I do her water every morning. 

Jenna: yes. Because cold water isn’t good for you – right mom?

Me: right. It puts out your Agni – remember?- your digestive fire. 

Jenna: oh yeah. What’s your digestive fire do again?

Jacob: it ignites your farts. 

And then we all fall down laughing. It was my happiness moment, but I’m also happy that they have paid at least minimal attention to all of my talking about Ayurveda. Although like any good teenage boy, he had to turn the conversation to farting. 

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Fondue Fun

  
Tonight we had an unconventional family meal. We set up Inside Out on the Ipad (because we love it), and watched it while I prepared our meal – then because we were into it we watched during the meal. I had picked up a small roast earlier today because the kids were asking for “real roast beef sandwiches” and I’m all for finding something besides luncheon meats for their sandwiches. Turns out what I thought would give them supper tonight and sandwiches tomorrow was not big enough – I still am not used to teenage appetites – but they sure enjoyed it.

We made an unexpected stop at the cheese shop on the way home and fondue cheese was on sale, and my willpower is weak around cheese… so….. we had cheese fondue and roast beef for supper. Ok, well, I may have just had copious amounts of fondue… so good… cheese… Not exactly on the Ayurvedic plan I follow, but sometimes a girl’s gotta eat cheese.

I love the whole act of the fondue. Dunking your bread chunk into the melted cheese. The silly mess of the whole thing. Drooling up long strings of cheese. And, anyone who knows me knows that usually this kind of eating grosses me out (gag), so the fact that we have so much fun at it speaks volumes. I love just being able to relax and be silly and eat fun good and giggle.

It was a much needed laughter break at the table. I’m grateful every day that these two like spending time with me. They are my greatest blessings and it brings me such joy that we all truly enjoy each other’s company.

My happiness moment today. Fondue fun(due).

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Pushing the pull door

Today Jacob and I had to go to town and renew passports and get him a SIN. We actually completed both tasks fairly easily and quickly (bonus! It seems usually most government related errands take me much longer than anticipated). 

When we were leaving the building, Jacob moved ahead of me to open the door. After pushing the handicap button a few times and pulling  the door, he turned to me with a panicked look and said the door is locked. We are stuck in here.  

Just then a lady came from the other direction and opened the door. Jacob goes ohhhhh push…..

When we were in the parking lot he said I’ve made someone somewhere happy. You know the saying “when you are feeling sad just remember somewhere in the world there’s someone pushing the pull door”.  

It’s good to be able to laugh at yourself. What a great trait! My happiness moment today. 

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Beacon Hill… discovered….

Tonight the kids and I were up in Royal Oak – a neighbourhood in NW Calgary. Back when Jacob was a little squirt – 12+ years ago – his dayhome was in this (then) new area. I worked in a town north of Calgary and knew all the back roads. Well, the city has changed. I know this, but sometimes it takes me driving somewhere to really understand how much it has changed.

We finished up in Royal Oak and were headed to Crowfoot (about 5-10 minutes away) and I missed the turn onto the main road. No problem – there’s the jail… there’s the dump… I know where I am. We will just follow this back road and we will get there.

Nope.

So, we ended up in an area called Beacon Hill. Never heard of it. Although it’s where the Costco is and I did know there was a Costco around. There’s tons of shops! Of course we got lost driving around the shopping centre and couldn’t get out for a while. Then a few more wrong turns and 20 minutes later we were in Crowfoot.

The entire time we were driving the kids were cracking jokes and laughing so hard they were hiccuping and snorting. Silly crazy happiness moment in the car today. I love those two.

Bonus happiness when we got home. Abu and Ella (the girl cats) were upstairs beating each other up. Aladdin (boy cat) was downstairs with me looking up at them. I could see the expression on his face and said it out to the kids “what do I do? What do I do? Girlfriend or sister, girlfriend or sister… whom do I save??”

From the tub, without missing a beat, comes Jenna’s voice. “Sister, you always pick the sister. Sisters are forever….”

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Head in the clouds

I love it when a happiness moment happens first thing in the morning. Starting the day with smiles and laugher is a better boost than any cup of coffee ever could be. 

We were driving down into the hay valley on our way to school when we noticed that there was a cloud lying in the middle of the field. 

We all got excited, as every time we drive through a cloud we reach our arms out and try to grab it. We had low lying clouds that would rest on our mountain in Roanoke so it’s a past happiness memory. 

The three of us unrolled our windows and held our hands out touching the cloud while we laughed at how silly we were. After we stuck our hands back inside we all tried to find bare skin on someone else to show them how incredibly cold our hands were. Which brought more laughter. 

  

I love these drives back and forth from school. Many happiness moments happen while we cruise this beautiful country. It’s good to be home. 

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How to annoy a goose (and a heron)

IMG_1368I came across Henry Heron (on the far left) hanging out with the Canadian Geese this morning. My iphone photo does not do it justice – it was a really beautiful sight with the geese and the heron all in the water. I had to stop and watch them for a little bit (and then fumble with my phone while wearing my gloves to try and take this picture).

The better picture – or video really- would have come about 15 seconds after I took this picture. Henry Heron does not like it when I stop and watch him, it makes him irate actually. Suddenly he started making this terrible squawking sound and lifted his huge wings and started to fly out right over the geese. Well, this seriously pissed off the geese who started jumping up 3 of 4 feet in the air above the water – flapping wings out – and letting out a huge *honk* before bouncing back onto the water. So there was the squawwwwwwk from Henry and then honk (bounce) honk (bounce) honk (bounce).
I actually laughed out loud (making my own kind of honk I suppose) watching all this happen. Obviously I am easily entertained.
Day 17 of my 44 days of happiness comes courtesy of those crazy birds and from the wonderful feeling of unexpected laughter. *honk* *squawk* *honk*
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We all get by with a help from our friends (and strangers)

Like just about everyone else out there, there are days when I feel completely overwhelmed. I firmly believe the old saying “it takes a village to raise a child”, and to add to that I believe that it’s important for my overall well being to be a part of a “village”. With all our moving, uprooting, and the like we have had a really difficult time building and maintaining a village. There is a village full of people back home who we could jive with, but we aren’t there – we are here – village-less. Learning how to live without a constant support system is challenging at best – but the one thing I am learning that is an absolute necessity is to learn how to ask for help.

I have never been really good at asking for help. I also don’t like asking for directions when I’m driving. Both are a sign of weakness (not really, but somehow in my brain they are). But the reality is that one person can’t do everything. And I’m learning that in order to do things well I can only do a few things. And to do things really well I can do even fewer. So, I’m learning how to ask for help.

Today I had some wonderful ladies come to the house and scrub it from top to bottom. I was Christmas-and-Birthday combined excited. I still am Christmas-and-Birthday combined excited. The house looks so amazing, I feel like I can handle the daily chaos in order to have it “show ready” at all times. Seriously, they’ll call and give 20 minutes before they want to come see the house sometimes. I have 2 kids, a dog and a cat. Who the heck lives in a show ready house? Not me usually. But these ladies came in and scrubbed and cleaned and vacuumed and the house is clean and sparkling! My anxiety about it has gone, I feel so relieved and happy and more capable of keeping on top of things.

Because I asked for help. Changed my whole outlook on things. Overwhelmed feelings are most certainly lower. The village. We all need one.

Tonight lying in bed reading The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah, I opened to the passage “Ask for help when you need it, and give help when you can. I think that is how we serve God – and each other and ourselves…” Which sums it up perfectly.

Happiness moment for the day (day 16 of my 44 days of happiness): Our local radio DJ has an anger diary “Zack’s Anger Diary” and when we remember to have the radio on the right station and it’s the right day (which we need to find out exactly when it’s on so it’s not so random) the kids and I listen to it on the way to school. Usually it’s bust a gut funny, but today was bust a gut and fall over funny. Maybe more for me than the kids, because it was all about kids and their incessant need to snack and treat us like their personal butlers. I think the kids laughed harder at how hard I was laughing than they did at Zack. Anyway, listen to today’s diary here. It was like he was living my life!!

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The laughter of a child…

As they say in Mary Poppins “I love to laugh”. It’s fun, it’s funny, it lightens up the day, it makes me feel good from the inside out. Up until my late 20s I had friends that I used to have insane belly laughs with. I remember laughing and laughing and laughing until it hurt. Sometimes we didn’t have to even say anything, we’d just look at each other and laugh ourselves silly. It was a great way to live. I have those laughs now when I go home, with my sister and my cousins. Crazy, silly, fun, kid like laughter.

Of course, the best way to get a good dose of laughter medicine is to go to the “source”. In my case this would be my kids. Both of them are really funny people. They have incredible senses of humours, and because we spend so much time where it’s just us hanging out – we know each other well enough that it usually does not take much to make us laugh.

Sometimes though, there are faster ways of making one laugh.

This morning Jenna got up and came into my room. She lay on the end of my bed and watched me while I did my morning game of fetch with Ella the cat. As we were winding up, I turned quickly, ran a couple of steps and bellyflopped on top of Jenna on the bed. While I had her pinned down I tickled her until she turned into a squirming mess. Mean you say? Well, in my defense, the more she laughs from tickles the stronger she gets, while the more I laugh from tickles the weaker I get. And she gives back as good as she gets. It wasn’t long before we were both giggling hysterically on the bed – each trying to get away, but neither wanting the other to escape.

Every single day should begin like that. With a belly laugh with someone you love. Today for my 8th day of my 44 days of happiness I am happy because I got to have hysterical belly laughs with the best girl I know.

~Life is better when you are laughing ~

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