Laughter - it's a family necessity!

Families who know how to play together....

Will make heartfelt memories to keep forever...

Many families I know would be embarrassed and completely horrified to admit some of the crazy and almost unbelievable happenings inside of their homes, especially those crazy moments when family activities occur on the spur of the moment and a complete and utter chaos rules the scene before their eyes. No, I don't feel I have too many good friends who would reveal or admit their family's shortcomings to me (laugh), feeling a wee bit coy if they dared to do so. (snicker)

Admittedly we have been called a "very funny family" (more than once) when moments such as these become spontaneous for us. Completely out of character in the usual family way, we don't LOOK for weird stuff to happen, it just does.

Serious events around here still make my jaw drop, let alone the others in our family, like the time when my husband and children's sudden whipping cream face smudging impromptus, my hubby and I rolling out of our kayaks or falling into swimming pools fully dressed to shock the children nearby into squeals of laughter, and so many more memorable events not intended from their onsets. They just happen. They just do.

Whipping cream wars have occurred in our home.

The best one yet was a giant blueberry dessert spoon slinging my husband and I began at the dinner table. Like any other typical evening, he was seated at one end of the table and I at the other, children in between on both sides. As everyone consumed their delicious desserts, my hubby and I were using our spoons like catapults, with a few choice fresh blueberries flying overhead towards one another. The children thought we'd lost our marbles, staring at us like zombies filled with disbelief over the scene before them. Realizing the damage we'd done, my husband and I knew we had to crack their serious faces. Slowly we began an allied front, non-nonchalantly making them all our targets slowly but surely.

As children are quite impressionable, a genuine all around food battle soon began, a war around our kitchen table like no other! Blueberry were flying everywhere, some with the fresh whipped cream still on them. Soon, they were in our hair, on the walls, on the windows and blinds, and one child was filled with such disbelief at the scene before him, he took refuge under the table to recover or something. We never laughed so hard in our lives, wet sloppy tears rolling down our cheeks after roaring for a long while with deep belly giggles! Even after the clean up was complete, we discovered additional blueberry marks here and there on the walls for days to come. The bits of whipping cream blended into the blind color, bits also found days later.

Oh do we dare admit to our crazy antics here for all to read?

It is true I've had to clean up after such food affairs in our home over the years. Is it worth such stupidity or crazy antics to occur within a family at all?

Oh yeah! Just ask our children. To this day they could tell you about a whole myriad of memories. The time when mom and dad secretly packed up small water guns to play with while on vacation, and they will also tell you about the unfair advantage my husband and I held with huge super-soakers while surprising the pants off of them and tearing about while shooting the water sprays at our targets.

There is something to say about spontaneity that allows a family to make a memory while squealing with fits of laughter. Yes, we keep our children shell shocked often and we will happily confess to being a very crazy bunch, for a long time now. We like it that way. :-)

What would life be if we never shocked our children with our more mature but still childlike natures? Come on people! Let your hair down once in a while and find something completely different on the spur of the moment to laugh about. Laughter does fill the soul with warmth, and a very necessary thing to have in this journey called life.

It is true we've had more couch legs break off from the big boy's wars on them (Dad at the helm) and it is true that there are times when we become so completely unbelievable in our "play", the outside world would never guess these occasions are within our walls.

Rough and tough "guy play" has broken more than
one couch leg around here...usually begun by guess who?

Okay, so life really is what you make of it! In all ways!

Life should include fun and even silly moments to take us all completely out of our comfort zones every now and then. Therefore it comes as no surprise to believe our children have grown to possess this character trait from example (sigh), and since laughter also fills the soul with gladness, here is a little film to view below.

Within it you will see what happens when a birthday evening is in session, and spontaneity rules the kingdom! My hubby and I were enjoying a few peaceful moments around the corner eating our birthday cake while sipping our tea. Squeals of laughter alerted us to something requiring a curious check. My husband rose to the occasion, standing stunned for just a moment until he turned and walked back towards his cozy arm chair, a big smile crossing his face. I knew it had to be something crazy and ultra typical of our family. Uh boy - here we go I thought, AND dread of all dreads; there would be witnesses here this night to atttest to it all. gulp...

What is so funny about this scene is that the one beginning it wasn't a child of mine! Perhaps HIS family plays these silly things within their walls too. Now that is funny! Quickly you'll see "birthday cake tossing" suddenly becomes a quick scenario, everyone happily sitting around getting into the act like a notorious bunch having a feeding frenzy, cameras clicking and the video below recording the momentary event. Impressively, all the cleaning up wasn't something we had to do, he did it himself. Some of the cake was behind on the buffet, some icing splattered on it. I must commend his mother on the laughter he provided for us this night.

Enjoy the laughter, feel the energy in the room and giggle your hearts out. And then, remember these silly memories in your own homes some day. I want to hear from you too. Come on, do confess. Do you have events such as these in your homes? Do tell... :-)

Oh happy day!

Have a great day everyone!
Hug the ones you love!!

Dressing up

Dressing up for Girl Guides

Costumes this mommy made long ago are making a comeback with yet another younger child in our family, simply delighted with her ability to fit perfectly into this one shown below!

Hooray for new face paint and fun dress-up treasures because tonight this sort of activity was required at her Girl Guide troupe evening.

Laughter besieged our home as this child confronted her mirror images, immediately sending her (and everyone else) into fits of giggles. Yes, this is wildly fun for mommy to see another child in this same suit once again, so fun.

Remember when this was first worn my big adult kiddos? If you guessed 21 years ago, you were correct! :-)

Truly Delighted!
(I think we need new pompoms though)

SCIENCE his way

SCIENCE - His Way
(psssst... at its best!)

aka - Mom; I want to do this now & blow up something

Okay it all began with a super motivated young man who was smitten with his newest Science course, feeling the need to gather more mad scientist experiences. Have I ever mentioned this is all a deja-vu to me? We have had other mad scientists living in our home as they grew from boys to men, but seriously, this is most definitely a "guy thing" around here.

This young man decided to scoff up (steal) his older sibling's retired math course for "Physical Science" all because we had an extra kit of supplies hanging around to provide ingredients for all the interesting experiments he noted with interest deep within the covers of this same textbook.

Truly there is such a great thing as "whetting" the appetite of a learner, motivating the pants off of them in no time at all, perhaps even with something so simple as a science kit still hanging around. In reality - Why oh why (!) was *I* the one to mention the extra kit? (grin, grin, grin) Actually in all honesty, there has never been such a thing as a dull science "anything" around our home, and I have the historical tales and even an abundance of evidence by way of many photos to prove it!

Beginning with the opening of the brown box with a return address label from "Home Science Tools", we were all sunk for we knew this child would be sunk too! Perhaps it was those bug eyes, maybe the beaming smile shortly after lifting the flaps of the box, or maybe the quick few leaps in the air from the most sincere thrill ONLY a mad scientist could ever understand.

Beginning with several mundane readings (to him at first), speed quickly gathered as delightful experiments began to creep up in forthcoming chapters soon after beginning Chapter 1.

With several smaller introductory experiments achieved successfully, it was time (once again) for volcano eruptions. This young lad could hardly contain himself and was having difficulty moving at a regular speed around the kitchen while gathering supplies on the countertop. And then it began...

Alas though, he soon had an audience culminating nearby, offering quick glances to the hovering exploding site nearby, wondering what type of brew he would be mixing up and concocting next.

Maybe they were as nervous as I. Maybe they thought it would all necessitate moving into another room, you know, just in case...wink.

Three days after making his faux volcano (the dough had to dry first), he began assembling items for creating his super bubbly brew. Rather than take his time to witness the reaction within the pit of the volcano, I almost burst out laughing when he was just way too eager and dumped the whole liquefied brew inside the opening.

Take good note at what you just read! THREE DAYS LATER...and this child still has the SAME favorite new shirt on his back, wearing it for five schooling days. The photos in this post were snapped over time, just so you know he hasn't been THAT quick at zooming through this textbook. Truth be know though, I did have to practically peal off his new clothing and get it laundered! Equated to a mad scientist spending much time working on his experimental observations and findings, so too did this child, day after day ponder his serious scientific sessions donning the same attire at the end of his bed each morning. At least he changed his socks!

Happy to get to his science and knowing just HOW motivating it has become for him, it's been wonderful to make lists of expectations BEFORE these sessions begin.

YES! Who says one thing doesn't lead to another? when he began chortling; "Mom, where is that book on Pompeii again, the underground city from Ancient times?" Then off he went in search of it after his clean up. So science then in its glorious form can lead to other grand topics of extended interest and research then, and of this you can most definitely be sure.

I must confess this child IS very deeply and sincerely motivated!!! I've not yet seen him so eager to rise and get through his morning chores, practice his piano and attack other school assignments of the day just for the purpose of allowing the time to speed up where he can begin reading through an entire chapter in his favorite arm chair, just to get to the experiments at the end of each chapter.

Onward to bigger and better experiments then, and no doubt there are many ahead for him.

Notice his excitement AND the eye attire? The nearest pair of eye protection was his sister's sunglasses, good enough for him. Forget the fact that he could ruin them, he was ready to rub his hands together and attack his next few lesson's experiments.

"Mom, I need some yeast? What's yeast? And I need 2 cups of Hydrogen Peroxide too. Is that the stuff in the first aid drawer?"

Notice the longer glass jar, the other wasn't going to work. My the logic cogs are turning and it is so interesting to sit nearby and tend to my own observations before me.

Fun. Exciting. Interesting. And it's all because of a new child working on old experiments to me, but completely new ones to him. He loves school these days. It's like music to my ears to listen to him raving about this highschool course. But, shhhhh, don't tell him that it's an accelerated course for his age (he's 11), because there are no boundaries in interesting learning curves one must find on his/her own. His appetite has been whet. He works on his other assigned Science courses mom has already provided, and then he works on this one. There is a lot of science happening in this home. Now it's time to allow the fruits of his labors to fill him with the learning he is so eager to capture with his willing and eager attitude. It is all good!


Another sibling has jumped on the bandwagon, begging him to wait for her to complete her mandatory morning studies before he works on more experiments. Notice he changed his clothes. Notice this is a much more relaxing moment for all of us here at home.

It's all so very good! :-)

Thankful

14 things I'm THANKFUL for;

Bubbling soup brewing on the stove. Sometimes I'm a typical cook using actual recipes, but there are other times when soups like the one above are called "clean-out-the-refrigerator-never-to-be-made-again-soup-mix". Any way it's on my stove, there aren't usually leftovers...hmmmm...

Thankful for the wonderful blogging community out there and those folks like Suzanne M. who passed along "The Borrowers" movie posted on Youtube in nine parts after reading my blog post HERE. What fun to watch a movie on mom's laptop! Thank you so much! :-)

Thankful for our new face paint for all those wonderful costumes mounting historically from our family's "trickle trunk" treasures.

Thankful for wonderful finds are our local dollar store. These have unlimited possibilities for all year round fun! Fine feathery masks....good quality too.

Thankful for Friday tuna fish cheddar melts - fresh and hot from the toaster oven on scones - all gifted from our daughter so competently positioned at the helm on her scheduled lunch making day. Yum!

Thankful for happy smiling faces appearing to refresh my weary soul at just the right moment when no one around me seems to be happy or smiling lately about having to move and relocate elsewhere...

Thankful for our country road with farmers traveling to and fro from their fields, harvest bounties in tow.

Thankful for another Friday fish day treat...mine and my hubbies this day. Yum!

Thankful for the water's edge no matter how the waves are roaring about and looking rather COLD these days. It's just so lovely to be near and hear it all.

Coffee break treats, aka "brain food" say the children.

Thankful for several fresh supplies of crayons and someone who thinks it's fun to write down all the books she's been reading these days. She calls it her "reading contest" for school.

Thankful for funny moments when everyone lets their hair down, quite literally, while trying to get her older brother to look at the camera and say "cheese".

Thankful for Autumn's bounty yet again - APPLES this time which are red and yellow, or green, no matter the type, we will consume them heartily.


Thankful for my St. Joseph house sale kit I bought a while back. He is the "Patron Saint of Realtors". Click this LINK HERE to read more about this special time honored tradition. As one woman told me recently, he's her "Go-to" guy for selling their homes.

Traditionally one hoping to sell a home buries a small statue of St. Joseph somewhere around their property, near the sale sign, near the front door, wherever, and once the house is all packed up, dig him up and take him with you. Does it guarantee a sale? No way, but boy oh boy, with the recent real estate market taking a nose dive and the economy so shaky these days, we just continue to pray our home sells. It would benefit our family GREATLY if we could obtain a solid sale during the month of November!

Could you pray with us offering this house sale petition heaven bound alongside our family if you feel led to do so? At the end of the day, perhaps we might want to consider ourselves lucky as we do have a guaranteed offer of sale from my husband's work relocation department. Sound good right? NOT great! Yesterday all the figures were forwarded to us and at the end of the day, we were offered a price WAY below our asking price, which created a whole bunch of stress for us. Losing upwards of many thousands of Ks is just not our cup of tea. No not at all. We are in negotiations to encourage them to sharpen their pencils.

Jesus, we trust in Thee.
St. Joseph, protect us!

Autumn passes quickly #10

Pumpkins!

Bountiful Harvests always include autumn pumpkins.

Just as the children love to choose a perfect shape for their very own carving delight, so too do we associate harvest with the orange colors they offer us aesthetically.

What would October be without a pumpkin or many hanging around the inside and outside of the house?

These are their choices this year

We used to grow ours in our backyard garden, laboring long and hard to cook and freeze the inner contents when we had had enough of the decor elements.

For all practical purposes, pumpkins are also nutritious, filled with minerals and good things for the body. The bright orange coloring is a dead giveaway on its most important ingredient - "Beta carotene. Beta-carotene is one of the plant carotenoids converted to Vitamin A in the body. In the conversion to Vitamin A, beta-carotene performs many important functions in overall health, the perfect antioxidant to keep many illnesses at bay.

Our children still speak of the night they were too stunned to speak when I placed an entire homemade pumpkin pie before them for their dinner with a dollop of real whipping cream to garnish the top, and fork nearby.

Granted, the nutrition offered is only as good as the pie filling itself, and obviously one can incorporate a tasty and even yummy (!) pumpkin pie without all the sugars and other additional calorie laden additions included in a store bought version.

Why not try your hand at cooking those insides of your own pumpkins this year, or better yet, but extras once they are offered on sale. Have a cookoff with friends to cook, sieve and freeze your bounties.

Oh, and don't forget how wonderful those seeds are for your health too. You can find out more about the nutrition and "body-goodness" promises of pumpkins by clicking on the link HERE...

Enjoy the memories mes enfants for it may happen again some day. :-)

Wordless Wednesday

NINE!

Count them!
Nine dead lights needing replacement today!

NINE at one time!

Autumn passes quickly #9

Lovely Leaves of Autumn

Trees with their leaves still attached are a rarity these days, especially after a monstrous windstorm hit our countryside over the past 48 hours. According to "Environment Canada's Red Flagged Warnings" - we are expecting a snow squall/blizzard sometime later today. Perhaps it will arrive just in time for us to depart for our son's hockey game tonight, who knows?

Nevertheless, these photos were snapped on Monday later in the afternoon this week, now completely devoid of leaves altogether.

So sad. They are such rich and lovely colors!

Autumn really does pass so very quickly...

Autumn passes quickly #8

Fields of Autumn Harvest

On this Feast day of Christ the King.... I found both the scenery in our neck of the countryside today AND the Bible verse below fabulously fitting for what our King asks of each us to consider for his kingdom...

Then saith he unto his disciples,
The harvest truly is plenteous,
but the labourers are few;
Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest,
that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.

Matthew 9 : 37-38

He is no longer needed in most of the farm fields locally

Autumn passes quickly #7

Harvest Blessings

Comments and more comments

Comments and more comments...

Just a quick note to mention I have turned off the comment section on the blog, the one that appears under each writing. This action is surely not for the purpose of deterring your continued wonderful comments from blogger land and beyond, rather the bulk of notes we receive are via private emails using the email link located on the blog itself and it's just a thought to simplify for a time by eliminating two ways to communicate with us down to one.

Oh, for sure, oh please - We would still love hearing from you anytime and warmly invite you to keep your comments, notes or letters coming - oh yes, please do!

You'll find the email link on the upper left of the blog and again on the lower right on the side bars. Simply click onto the link and type away. We'll be here waiting.

This note wouldn't be complete without yet again thanking you so much for all your continued kind words, prayers, advice and well wishes.

God Bless!

Renee