Feb 20, 2007

Tonights sunset........




This mornings sunrise

Chinese New Year.....last year
















Last year we focused on the Chinese New Year.....we made kitchen Gods who overlooked us in the house and we then smeared their mouths with jam and burned them on a fire so they would go upwards and tell sweet things about us!

We went to the celebrations and dragon dances at West Edmonton Mall, we gave the children red envelopes filled with money.....we made dragon puppets, we made fortune cookies.......we went out for a chinese lunch....we read stories and made collages.....we coloured flags and looked at maps.......we learned to use chopsticks WELL......practicing with jelly beans :)

We also went to the T & T Asian grocery store at WEM and bought all kinds of things to try....saw the HUGE fish and bought traditional Chinese New Year gifts.....

It was a really fun project!

washing the dishes....



One day I went upstairs for something and when I came down this is where I found Abigail...she had climbed into the kitchen sink still in her diaper and vest and was playing with the dishsoap..........

I grabbed my camera and took some pictures quickly! It made a great scrapbook layout!

Lloyds TVR


Lloyd wanted a picture of his TVR emailed to him at work so as I had found it for him I thought I'd post it here......I remember the day we went and bought it and he revved the engine up and WOW was it loud.....

This picture is of Susannah aged 3 helping Lloyd to wash the car outside of our apartment in Edinburgh, Scotland.....Susie looks so small! I loved the TVR...I have so many memories of going places in it.....driving down George Street and along the cobbled lanes in Edinburgh......driving down the Royal Mile during the festival.

The engine was so loud that I knew when Lloyd was coming home from work because I could here him even before he turned the corner.......

Lloyd would like to have another TVR imported from back home....maybe one day....

He sold his TVR and bought a Jaguar just before Abigail was born...the TVR would be no good with 4 children and a car seat! The Jag was nice but nothing like the TVR!!

more help for finding your passion

Ten Questions to Find Your Passion

1. If you could only have one section of the bookstore that you could visit, which section would it be?
2. When you pick up a newspaper or magazine, what kind of news stories are you drawn to first?
3. Which catalogs to you have a really hard time letting go of? How come? What is it in that catalog that you feel most drawn to?
4. Name the first three books that come to mind that strike you as your favorite books?
5. Name your three favorite movies?
6. Who do you envy and why? What is it about them that you envy?
7. Who's life would you love to have?
8. If you were allowed to make one powerful positive change, what would it be?
9. What intersts, hobbies, or careers would you like kids to get involved in?
10. Recall one time in the last week that you felt strongly about something?

some more:


1. What one subject can you enjoy talking about for many hours?
2. Do any of your hobbies involve working a lot with other people?
3. What specific concerns preoccupy your mind, breaking into whatever else you're thinking about?
4. What do you most enjoy doing for others?
5. Let's pretend you've reached the end of your life, and you're in heaven looking back on it. What's the one thing you want to be most happy about having done or having been?
6. Who 'out there' in the world have you come to care about the most? Who do you most want to help, enable, or reach? (You define the categories, whatever way you want. Go with your first instincts.)
7. Now, write down at least five of your life experiences that most gave you a sense of fulfillment and/or growth. (Don't think about them until later -- just write them down for now.) If more experiences come to mind, just keep listing them until you exhaust yourself. You'll sort them out later.

and a few more:

Having trouble finding your true purpose in life?

Here’s a little exercise you may want to try out:

First of all ask yourself: “What is (insert your name here) good at?”

Come up with 40 answers to that question.

Then pick 8-12 answers that overlap.

Then choose 3 of those that you are most passionate about.

Then ask yourself “What of these three is the lowest hanging fruit?”

Pancake day!

Today is Shrove Tuesday....or 'Pancake Day'......I don't think many people here actually celebrate it, but as a child it was quite a special day! I remember at playschool (preschool) we would have a pancake race......the Mums would race each other and then the children.....My Mum was really good at it.....I can stilll see her in the race now if I close my eyes! I guess I must have a good memory like Abigail....

Basically it was like an egg and spoon race except you had to run the race while flipping a pancake in a frying pan.......the children got to use 'play' frying pans and mine was pale greeny grey with a black handle......if you dropped the pancake you had to stop and put it back in the pan before running on........

We would always have pancakes for supper...with lemon juice and sugar or with golden syrup........

Here it seems to be a Catholic holiday......my children had a pancake breakfast at school this morning.....

And so tomorrow Lent begins with Ash Wednesday.....40 days of fasting although these days most people don't fast, but instead they give something up. It ahs to be something that means a lot to you or you really love or it isn't a sacrifice.......

Are you going to give something up? My Mum used to give chocolate up...and then you get to start eating it again at Easter........

I think I may ask the children if they would like to try giving something up for Lent....

At primary school I remember we were given little money boxes at Lent and we had to put the money inside each day...but I'm not sure what it was about exactly......

Its a good job Mum doe3sn't have to run the pancake race today........after her operation last week she may not win this year!

trying to smile.....





These were taken after a visit to\ the dentist...Susannah had had an injection and she couldntsmile properly...we thought it was so sweet and funny we HAD to take some pictures!!!!

Susannah.......

Fish are friends NOT food!




My Baileyboo......

ballerina girl



yay its working

my url hyperlink thingy button is WORKING :) YAY!!!

secrets..............

http://postsecret.blogspot.com/




There are some FABBY secrets on post secret this week :)

I especially like the one about Sarahs beaver :) Thats too funny!

I'm tempted to send in a secret but I'm not sure I have any worth sending.....in fact I'm not sure I have ANY :( I want a secret to send in!

finding your passion.........

So Patsy's 'homework' this week is to discover your passion but she doesn't really give much help on the 'how'.......so I did some surfing and Oprah has an article on discovering your passion - http://www.oprah.com/living/lifemake/passionsteps/lifemake_passion_main.jhtml


......and step three is to answer these questions:


What interest, passion or desire are you most afraid of admitting to yourself and others?

What would you do if you knew you could not fail?

What do you love about yourself?

What would you do if money was not a concern in your life?

What one thing do you dream about doing that you've never told anyone?

What do you fantasize about doing while driving your car or taking a shower?

Who do you know that's doing something you'd like to do? Describe yourself doing it.

How could you make the world a better place for yourself and others?

Who do you think you are? Have you labeled yourself a mother, student, caregiver?

What are the other parts of you?

What did you love when you were a child?

What's stopping you from moving forward with exploring your passion?

List five things that you want. List five things that you're good at. Do you know the difference between them?

What drives you, and what gives you satisfaction?

When you were young, what did you know you would do when you grew up?

How would you like the world to be?

What would you regret not having done if your life was ending?

I think I am going to take a pen and paper later and work through these questions......anyone else?

Beaver pics.................






Some beaver pics we took a couple of years ago.........

old moose pics..................







a few pics we have taken of moose in the past.....

get going....

I should be getting dressed...getting washed...waking up.....getting ready.......getting going!

I am sat here half asleep instead.......sipping coffee and listening to Abigail and Sam talking at the table over breakfast. The older three left for the bus ten minutes ago......Abigail has to go to preschool in 40 minutes......

Derek is coming over to do more scraping......I need to dust but there seems little point until Derek has finished all the scraping....it just makes more dust.

I think Sam can paint this morning.....he LOVES to paint and asks to do some most days now. I think I may paint as well...I'd like to work on some Hummingbird pictures.......

I think we will also leave to collect Abigail a little early and take a walk by the lake.......I'll take my camera too......

Each week I listen to a blubrry program about The Art of Gracious Living. This weeks is entitled 'Wholeheartedness' and is about finding your passion....this really speaks to me because it has been something I've been talking to Lloyd about for afew days........I don't feel that I have any one thing that I am 'passionate' about. Anam is passionate about scrapbooking.......her passion is incredible! When I read her blog it makes me sad that I don't have a passion...I have many hobbies and interests but I get bored easily and have never found something to be really passionate about.......my 'passions' don't last............

Patsy's articles always inspire me and I love to listen to her voice.....her blogs are wonderful too.

My chore list for today then is to finish the laundry and clean the bathrooms......once Derek leaves I can vacuum and dust..maybe wash the floors.....thats it though...the rest of the day will be spent painting with Sam and Abigail and maybe scrapbooking :)

I really do have to go get dressed now! Or we will be late!
Related Posts with Thumbnails