On a mission...

Today we headed off on a mission to find a Venus Fly Trap for the children.  They have all wanted one for a while - and we also wanted to grow a few things on the back deck in tubs - so we headed to Greenland Garden Centre.  While there we had a coffee and cake each and sat outside on the heated/ covered patio!  The heater was soooo good that it was lovely and warm there despite being outside on a grey and dreary 15c day!!  It was a lovely quiet place to sit and have coffee and chat together :)  

They had sooo many beautiful plants at the garden centre and we enjoyed looking around, but they didn't have a Venus Fly Trap!!  Luckily the lady who we spoke to knew JUST where to find them!!

So we headed up to Save on Foods and found one there :)  

All the children have said that it isn't quite what they were expecting - and that it's very small - and nothing like Audrey 2 from Little Shop of Horrors :)  Ah well - it will grow :)  

(hopefully lol)

Art Journaling

Today I....

Today I went to sobeys to get buns and salad to go with our barbecue :)

Today I hoped for a day to take things easy after the weekend :)

Today I dreamed about flying over my beautiful home :)

Today I forgot to make a phone call I needed to make - but it can wait until tomorrow.

Today I heard Sam call Laurence a pussy - and we all burst out laughing!

Today I said my friend John shares the same name as a penis :)

Today I read Effy Wilds oracle reading for the BOD's class and it really touched me!

Today I watched Sam and Susie baking, Sam and Abby riding their bikes and Sam and Abby doing archery

Today I believed that life is good :)

Today I felt extremely grateful for my good health - and that of my family.

Today I wondered what this summer holds for me.

Today I bought yoghurts and had a discussion with Laurence about how we pronounce that word and other words - some the Canadian way and some the British way :)

Today I cleaned the upstairs bathrooms, the kitchen cupboards and sinks, the main floor and I cut more grass.

Today I was me - I started my day doing art journaling and will end my day the same way :)  Being passionate and creative keeps my life in balance :)

things to share...

Todays assignment from BOD class - and it was suggested to use the ink blot technique to create the wings.  The tarot reading was very appropriate for me and I was keen to work on this page:

Monday :)

Enjoying a drink in the sunshine while dinner was cooking:

Dinner prepped and ready to go on the bbq :)

Dinner cooking:

My vegeburger:

Supper ready:

Sam and Susannah baked oatmeal and chocolate chip squares together:

Tonight I cut the grass then sat on the deck to relax.  All in all a lovely day :) 

Todays snapshots...

Sams sucker from yesterday that he continues to work on :)  

Sunlight this afternoon:

Waiting in the theatre for the movie to start tonight:

Sam loves playing outside sooooo much.  He and I are outside almost all the time now.  He keeps telling me how he doesn't want to move and wants to stay here because he loves all the trees and space and his mud pile...of all the kids it will be Sam hardest hit by a move into town.  He is very much a country/ outside/ get dirty and climb trees kind of boy!  He has plans to finish the treehouse, build a fort, grow things....he loves the pond and the woods and is always asking em to head off with him into the woods for a walk.  He also loves hunting for stones on the driveway...digging holes in the back yard to look for bones and treasure...catching bugs and frogs and watching the birds with me..

The moon tonight was stunning!  It was huge and low in the sky as the sun went down - and when we got home it was peeking out from behind the house:

It really was a stunning sight coming back from town:

The Hunger Games

Susannah finished The Hunger games trilogy this week - and I had decided not to read it, so tonight we headed to the movie theatre to see the first movie.  Abigail was very excited to see the  movie too, so she came with us.

It was a very interesting movie - very well made, and exciting - but I can't say that I 'enjoyed' it.  I think being a Mom has much to do with that though.  I found the storyline quite disturbing.  The idea of almost an entire society happily watching a  reality tv show each year in which children slaughter each other.

At one point it really was literally a blood-bath.  

I just can't imagine any point in time where a society would think this was normal and exciting and fun.    Especially women - and yet women in the production studio were assisting with it all.  No emotion, no sense of injustice.  

I know it is fiction and not going to ever happen - but it was obviously in someones mind - and I suppose when you think of what Hitler did with no emotion - well perhaps it is possible to create a society that accepts it as the norm.  

Horrible.  

Things that I have seen and liked on pinterest lately...

Pictures from tonights sunset :)

A few snapshots from my drive in to town tonight :)

Alberta is so beautiful and we are blessed with the most incredible sunsets almost daily throughout the year :)  

M is driving back from Vancouver Island today...  :)  

My Abby Banana...

My Abigail is sooooo beautiful!  She is always so photogenic and looks amazing in every hat she puts on her pretty little head :)  I am so proud of this girl of mine and the person she is becoming.  I watch in awe at times.  She is so amazingly independent and has such incredible confidence!  I am sure that much of that comes from being homeschooled.  I love the way she talks to adults and the way she confidently orders for herself and others when we are out - or the way she knows what she wants when she is at the library and has the staff running circles to find things for her!  I leave her to it - she often has a list of books she wants and will use the computers and staff to find them, order them or choose alternatives.  

I love hearing her chatting to people she knows online - she has friends dotted about the globe - many who are homeschooled, and she chats daily to them.  She is also so amazing on the computer and on Minecraft - the way she stands up for herself on there and tells people how stupid their rules are - in fact she got so fed up with them that she has now created her own server so SHE can make the rules and decide who stays and who goes :)  

I am so loving my days with this girl of mine - yes she is contrary, yes she struggles with her moods during the heat and when over tired, and yes you can REALLY tell when she hasn't taken her meds on time - but 95% of the time this girl is INCREDIBLE to be around - she makes me laugh with her quick wit and amazing sense of humour, she still loves cuddles regularly, and she loves so many of the things that I do.  I love her sense of style and her confidence to be herself from such a young age!

Abby you are definitely going to make a mark in this world of ours :)  

Love you so 

xxx