Tag Archives: parenting

happiness

Tea party and family games

My sister and her kids are down visiting for the weekend. I love that our kids are getting to know each other on a regular basis instead of once or twice a year as part of a rushed visit. Those cousin bonds are special, I am forever thankful for the lifelong friendships I have with my cousins (and I have a lot of them, spread out all over Canada, the US and Italy) and the tight bond I have with my sister.

We sat down for an impromptu tea party this afternoon. Jacob and I had bought an angel food cake and some strawberries yesterday and everyone had been eying them with hungry stomachs ever since we put them on the counter. When we could take the anticipation no longer, we declared it tea time and sat down for a little pig out. Tea, cake, and sharing stories – a great afternoon break.

Speaking of pigs, after supper we played our favourite weird family game – The Stinky Pig Game. My sister gave it to me for Christmas and we have been playing it ever since. It’s a weirdly addictive game of hot potato where you pass around a singing pig who eventually farts. Whomever is holding him as he gasses gets a token, and this goes on until all the tokens are gone. The loser (or winner depending on how you look at it) is the one holding the most tokens at the end of the game. It entertains us all, the toddler, the preschooler, the tween, the teen, the 40 something parents, and the Nana – all of us howling with laughter as we throw the singing pig around the circle.

These kinds of happiness moments are what makes the memories we carry and the bonds we create as we go through life. How blessed are we that we have these people to laugh and share life with.

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Quiet time 

My little Jenna has spent the last couple of days with a bad tummy ache. She hasn’t been able to keep anything down and is generally feeling rough. 

While that’s not a good thing, I have been reflecting on how fortunate we both are that I’m able to be here to care for her. It gives her such great comfort and security to have me around, and there’s nothing in the world I want more than to care for and be with my monsters. 

My happiness moment was watching Golden Girls cuddled up with my girl today. I love this kid. 

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And so the sun sets on this year 

Tonight is my personal New Year’s Eve as I finish off another trip around the sun. A year ago tomorrow I began my journey to happiness with this blog. When I go back to the early days of my happiness journey I am struck by how much things have changed. I was so desperately seeking happiness, but I was so lonely and afraid and unhappy. Now I am surrounded by loved ones, less afraid, and so much happier. I love my life being back home, grounded into our roots, secure in the love of our family and friends.

There has been much joy over the past year, reuniting with old friends, strengthening bonds with family, walking happily out in the fields at the ranch, and living in a place that makes my soul feel complete. There has also been a lot of sorrow, losing my dad, and learning to let go and surrender (still working on that one).

Through it all, I am filled with immense gratitude. I have a blessed life and I am surrounded by wonderful and loving people.

I had three happiness moments today. First I heard Jacob describe his day of snowboarding at Nakiska with his school. It was his first time on the slopes and it seems to have been a resounding success. Secondly, my nephew had his surgery and is back home recovering. Thirdly, I had some wonderful visits with family that made me feel strengthened and loved. I am so thankful for my tribe.

 

 

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Back in the arms of love

Today’s happiness moment was easy peasy lemon squeezy. I started the day with hugs from my two favourite people. 

The three of us are a pretty tight unit and we aren’t used to spending much time apart. While they were very well cared for, it still is better when we are all back together. 

I thank God every day that he gifted me with the care of these two rays of light. Being their mom is the greatest part of my life. 

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Those three little words 

Love, that magic that makes our hearts sing. There’s nothing quite like it. 

I have a double happiness moment for today, and they both revolve around love. 

The first was when I dropped my teen off at school. He gathered his things, got out of the car, reached back in for his coffee, and then said bye mom have a good day. I love you. And turned and walked away. I followed him in the car, rolled down the window and said did I hear what I thought I just heard? He smiled and said maybe. I don’t know what you’re talking about.  And turned and ran into school. Public acknowledgement that he cares. It doesn’t get much better than that. 

Jenna and I skipped errands and went for a hot chocolate after school. 

  She was delighted when it showed up with a heart on it. She snuggled up to me and said this better be your  happiness moment today mom, because it is mine. These moments with these beautiful people are so precious. I am so grateful for this kind of love. It is a great blessing to be attracting this positive vibe into my life. 

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happiness

Those three little words 

Love, that magic that makes our hearts sing. There’s nothing quite like it. 

I have a double happiness moment for today, and they both revolve around love. 

The first was when I dropped my teen off at school. He gathered his things, got out of the car, reached back in for his coffee, and then said bye mom have a good day. I love you. And turned and walked away. I followed him in the car, rolled down the window and said did I hear what I thought I just heard? He smiled and said maybe. I don’t know what you’re talking about.  And turned and ran into school. Public acknowledgement that he cares. It doesn’t get much better than that. 

Jenna and I skipped errands and went for a hot chocolate after school. 

  She was delighted when it showed up with a heart on it. She snuggled up to me and said this better be your  happiness moment today mom, because it is mine. These moments with these beautiful people are so precious. I am so grateful for this kind of love. 

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The benefits of country internet 

One thing we had to get used to when we moved back home was the crappy internet service that is the only option we have here. We know we should consider ourselves lucky, when we arrived the only option was 50 gb per month (and it was pretty unreliable at that). They changed things and we now get a whopping 250gb for a little more than half the price (still more than you pay in the city) what a deal <sarcasm>. I have no idea how many gigabytes we used before, but I’m guessing a few thousand. I streamed everything. 

So every month we go at least 140% over our limit. They don’t shut us down, just slow us down – like that’s even possible, it’s already so slow. However, now that we are on our last couple of days of the month it’s pretty much impossible to use. 

The benefit of essentially having no internet a few days a month? We all unplug a little bit more. We play board games – even terrible ones like Candyland, we draw, we visit, we watch The Golden Girls together. That makes for some very special family time, and one awesome happiness moment. 

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Our beautiful Jenna

When you smile I can see

how beautiful life is

The sweetness of your laughter

brings joy to everyone around you

You show the world your beautiful sparkle

and it makes light in the darkness 

To think I was trusted to care for such a miracle,

What an incredible gift

There is nothing more beautiful than watching you 

grow into the amazing human you were intended to be

My wish for you as you continue to grow

is that you always remember you are a perfect child of God

and that you are deeply loved


 

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Connect 4

I come from a highly competitive family and winning is equal opportunity for children and adults alike. 

Today my happiness moment was beating Jenna over and over at Connect 4. For the past month every single time we have played she has wiped the floor with me (and we play a lot). 

I have to enjoy it because obviously she was just in a slump and I’m sure the next time we play I will not be winning. 

Mostly I just love playing games with the kiddos. That important together bonding time is when I really get to know who they are. 

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The last day…

Typically this weekend is a sad one. We are usually heading to the airport, crying, and saying goodbye to family. Sometimes we are lucky and a winter storm in Chicago or the East Coast cancels flights and we get to have an extra day or so. But, our hearts always know there is a sad goodbye coming.

This year we don’t have to go anywhere but down the road to our home. We have spent a lot of time this weekend talking about how nice it is to be here to stay and not have all that emotional upset of having to say goodbye to everyone.

I’ve been going over some blog posts from the beginning of this year and what really hits me is how brutally lonely we were back then. I am so grateful that we don’t have to be so alone anymore. Whatever other turmoil the past year brought us, I am thankful that we are back home.

We took the kids out for one last run on the sleds before we are back to the grind tomorrow. I think they had fun….


Hearing the laughter as they flew past me howling in joy was my happiness moment for the day. What a great start to the year. I have felt very held in love by those around us these past few days. It’s so easy to get caught up in negative thoughts, it has been very good to remember that there are loving, kind, fun people to share laughter and life with.

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