Scenes from our Easter weekend

When a major feasting time occurs, it's double the blessing when additional family are present to celebrate with us, specially since our move to Ontario almost seven years ago now.

Welcome!

It sounds corny I know, but for me, mother to many and nana to almost a dozen, the quiet and smaller population in our home these days just seems way too quiet for me. I need festive, outright noisy, loads of laughter filtering through the air, plenty of warm loving hugs, and making memorable family times. 

I know, it's just me and my camera most often, at the very least, trying to snap what I can to remember and seize the days when able. For the first time since our move, yes, we indeed had company at Easter time.

"Children of the same family, the same blood, with the same first associations and habits, have some means of enjoyment in their power, which no subsequent connections can supply..." 

~Jane Austen, Mansfield Park, 1814  

Here's a photo journal of sorts, a small glimpse into our Easter weekend this year...

Our younger boys posing with our company.

A highlight for him, a definite highlight he said was to play pool again after so many years later, of having owned his own pool hall in the "good old days" of his youthful years. 

Meanwhile, there was still daily prayer readings and reflections throughout Holy Week, and a fabulous new favorite "egg tree" to place these wooden images on with simple threaded string hangers. 

On Easter Sunday morning, we were able to flip the cross around to feature the the purple liturgical color with the symbolic and uplifting lilies so nicely adorned on it. 

Did I mention that I LOVE this new to us set? Oops, oh yes I already did in a past post. grinning...
 

Our little grandbaby missy loved having company over, and she engaged in their attentions and affections quite well.

So sweet, and so kind, this lovely gentleman has watched our children grow up the past half dozen years. He has offered such hospitality to our family over the years when offering his own home for us to stay in Plymouth, MA, right over the ocean. 

Time to pay it forward.

These two have really hit it off over the years. 

It was so good to see them together again.

Easter morning after mass our breakfast was scrumptious; fresh pacific salmon quiches, fruit, bacon and fresh orange juice, not to mention coffee aplenty. 

Oh! Did I mention an abundance of chocolate too? Oh, I didn't? 

Forgive me... grinning again. 

Afternoon snowy forest trail walking, a bit of sightseeing, more liturgical celebrating, and then Easter Sunday dinner; my foodie husband had this one with his yummy (grass fed) turkey, special homemade cranberry sauce, homemade secret family recipe (wink) stuffing, sweet potatoes, my signature salad (wink), and gravy.

Yum! Just look at this baby! 
Leftovers all week long!

Teasing everyone, I just couldn't resist these chocolate bars and subsequent introduction to our friend of our youngest daughter's bunny. There was an uncanny resemblance with her bunny to the one on the package, so cute! 

More yummy meals together; wild pacific salmon (we all love seafood!), quinoa salad, coleslaw, green salad, green beans with garlic, and more. 

Hail, Hail, finally there are enough around our family table this day!

 

And, another lovely reminder for the "reason for this season", one of our blessed palms, folded up into a cross and gently laying under our Alleluia letters on the dining room buffet. 

We were so happy you two to have you drive all the way up here for a short weekend visit. 

Come again!

Ten Things I'm Thankful For ~ a spring rose edition

Yep...I'm definitely awaiting the spring's roses yet to come... Aren't you?

Here are my "Ten Things I'm Thankful For"....

When the night has been too lonely, and the road has been too long,

and you think that love is only for the lucky and the strong,

just remember, in the winter,

far beneath the bitter snow,

lies the seed that with the sun's love

in the spring becomes the rose.

(The Rose, sung by Bette Midler)

Well, in the last blog post I did warn all about our strange weather patterns looming before us, and indeed the snow did visit to cover the earth once more, with its (once again) wintry white snowy blanket.

The air grew very damp, and a tornado bounced off a farm an hour away from us. The odd weather offered us more bitter cold for a 48 hour period, and then all began to thaw and warm up again. 

I'm happy to report we have only a little rain today, and the weather forecast to come for the rest of the week, is sun, sun, and more sun! The temperatures will rise, and with a steady increase of 20C+ of thermometer reading blissness, we will - at last, feel the effects of spring in our midst.

- 1 - I'm thankful for the gifts of spring. My husband gifted me with these lovely tulips yesterday. He too, felt the sun rounding the bend ahead.  

I'm happy to report our trees are filling up with tiny buds, a sure sign that we still require patience for spring to finally begin blasting in with full force. 

I am filled with great anticipation for a visible change of season to remain for more than a day, and having experienced one very beautiful day already as a teaser this past weekend, enabling doors open wide, and being able to sit for a bit and soak up the sun's rays while quietly listening to the multitudes of returning birdies, well now, that was so very wonderful.

- 2 - I'm thankful for the many blessings intentionally sought after day to day. Our world and personal circumstances still prove that there is so much to pray for, and still so much to be ever-thankful for. Always. 

There are important family dates filling up our calendar, ones we will highlight in bright yellowy hues, glowing radiant like the sun to provide some blessed excitement ahead. 

On May 19th, our future son-in-law will be baptized and receive his First Holy Communion. We will celebrate his and our daughter's wedding this August, and in both September and November, two more grandbabies (Yes now 2!) will make their welcomed entrances into our family. Other extended family events are dotted in between these ones, milestones for some and delights for others. So blessed!

 

- 3 - I'm thankful for the heart of our home - our kitchen! With Lent now behind us, and the Easter season in our midst, sporadic and impulsive baking moments are present in our kitchen. 

The goodies are becoming a habit, and I hate to spill the beans to one daughter that our traditional "Lenten Pie Sundays" are now over. Two pies this weekend, and happy faces resulting from serving those were quite funny. 

- 4 - I'm thankful that our schooling is rounding the bend, and the light at the end of the tunnel ahead is now (finally) beginning to brightly glow. 

At this time of year, there is a tattling with our teens showing definite preferrences for some subjects over others. The dawdling becomes quite remarkable when a least favorite subject is presented for the week's "catch-up" scheduling mode. Oh, but we all know, those essays, and assignments that they really aren't a fan of will still be there come Monday. Right? 

Seize the day children, for this part of schooling too shall pass...and then there will be many more challenges and learning opportunities ahead throughout your entire life. Real life-schooling never ends! Know that. :)

- 5 - I'm thankful for this old solid oak  "Wilson" piano, the one that is daily adorned with sheet music, or a favorite piano book. It's the one that fingers pass across the ebony keys, offering joyful song and rhythmic tunes enough to fill our home with the sounds of music. 

 

Thank you to our children who still love to play, we love to listen to your efforts, and thank you mom and dad for having it surprisingly dropped off that one day, now so long ago. This is the piano all of my siblings played tunes upon, the one we had in our home growing up.  

All eight of our children have been privy to piano lessons, in the hope that they would learn to especially, and simply love fine music down the road. It is my fondest hope that they all still appreciate having had the opportunity of being introduced to, and playing on this timeless musical instrument. Maybe they won't continue to play in the future, but it will remain here whenever they wish to sit and run the keys again in the future.

- 6 - I'm thankful for the opportunity and pleasure of having guests in our home at Easter, for the very first time since our move to Ontario almost seven years ago now. 

My sister and our friend spent many hours driving here from Cape Cod, arriving late on Good Friday, and not leaving until Easter Monday morning. It was very special to have them here with us, one of those really thankful things in life to have additional family around on a special weekend. Love to you sister!

A highlight was the men's pool table games, so neat to see them enjoy circling around it and having a great time. Our friend used to own his own billiard hall many, many years ago and really enjoyed revisiting that special former hobby of his.

- 7 - I'm thankful for the formal change of winter to spring sports. Our son is playing ball hockey again this year. He's made a move to a new venue, with the biggest change being that this particular new-to-him league is outdoors, snow or shine. 

He was over the moon crazy-happy to be able to grab his favorite number 10 again, one that he's had for most of his ice/ball hockey seasons thus far. 

Though these photos have the sun shining, it was freezing cold out there, hovering around a mere 3C degrees! So cold, the sun didn't even warm a body up, so these boys were wearing layers to keep warm, and working it out there to keep pumping up their circulation.

Team win of 6-1 was a hearty bonus for all the kids on his team, but all were happy to run for warmth as soon as they exited their arenas. 

I'd like to mention the incredible professional flooring they are able to play on, a formal floor used in roller hockey games, so there is a cushioning for joints moving about throughout the season, as opposed to playing in an indoor arena's concrete flooring. Bonus!

- 8 - I'm thankful for attempts at resolving issues with short cuts to cleaning hardwood floors. This "shark steamer" allowed me to make an unexpected happy dance when locating it locally and finding it on sale for almost half the price. Ohhhh, was I ever thankful when the cashier surprised me with that good news, as it was the night before the actual mark down event and she offered it to me early. Yay!

With the recent purchase of this steam cleaner, I worked and worked at cleaning for some additional super shine on our abundance of flooring in this house. My verdict? Perhaps the sales pitch is hailed by many to be fantastic, yes it did clean well, and I'm still thankful for having it, but honestly, I think I'm needing a commercial unit instead to perform for us here. 
  
Though the manufacturer claims it will disinfect at the same time as cleaning, even at its lowest steam setting, I found it left a rather dull streaked flooring as a result of all that abundance of cleaning. I still really like it though, specially on my tile flooring in the hallways, doorways and bathrooms, but one thing was sure - performing the task with such a large amount of flooring required several breaks when the motor obviously became too hot to continue. (Your thoughts, if you own one are most welcomed.)

- 9 - I'm thankful for this white frothy cuppa sweetness! I gave up these and other things for lent, and boy oh boy was I ever thankful for this special and unexpected serving placed before me! Yum! Yum! 

It's a ceremonial thing for me, not to be indulged in too often, but slowly savored when present. Bliss! 

- 10 - I'm thankful for daily cell phone reminders when viewing my newest photo placed on my cell phone's home screen. This was a photo I snapped a while back through my window, one that I love to check out daily that is graced with this window decal, which has become so special to me.

It makes me smile, when every single day my cell phone offers a little reminder not only to see the sunshine in my days, but to also fill my heart with gratitude for the many, many blessings given unto me. 

As this week's Sunday epistle bible reading details;

" Dearly beloved, Every best gift, and every perfect gift is from above: coming down from the Father of lights, with Whom there is no change, nor shadow of alteration...."

~ 1 James 1:17

 And once again, ten - only ten out of hundreds of thankful things are offered for just a minor glimpse at some of my simple things in life ~ from me to you.

Grab a pen, grab something to jot down your favorite and thankful things today. Count your blessings and know they really do come down from the Father of lights.

Have a great week everyone! 
Blessings;
Renee 

"People from a planet without flowers would think 

we must be mad with joy the whole time 

to have such things about us."

~Iris Murdoch

Ten Things I'm Thankful for

 It's time for another (longer than usual) post of "Ten things I'm thankful for..."

Since the Easter season has been upon us, it's been my hope to keep all things related to this liturgical season out for a little longer than usual, mostly as reminders on the promises that salvation offers us; those yellow and purple hues of color in the flowers on my dining room buffet, the eggs which represent new life, and other deeply personal reflections. 

 I'm so very pleased to have been able to get a photo of this year's stunning Easter paschal candle displayed on the altar since the Easter vigil.  This is just a little something I like to do every year, mostly to include one when possible in the sequential order of photos in my family scrapbooking albums. Instead of using my iphone to "check in", this tells me "I'm checked in to the liturgical short timing of this season, and all the grace if offers to us". Kind of cheesy I know, it's just my own personal thing.

Some years, I've forgetten to get a photo until it's too late, however I do need to give myself credit as I was able to snap one on its way out to the back of the church last year, so I have two in a row to cheer about. 

Life is like that you know. We observe and instantly appreciate those small almost insignificant things, privately fall in love with them, for no particular reason really, they just tend to somehow draw our attention toward them. They're here one moment, and then they are gone, and if we can't pinpoint them in our memories, and remember them with full clarity for what or how they were to us in our daily lives, my remedy is to simply take a photo and preserve the moment.  

 No one else might chance the same photo opportunities, but when I view them afterward, I know, I remember, they're just happily all mine. Thank goodness for digital photography! I was going broke trying to do this on film cameras in the past. ;)

 Thus is the need to take time in our days to "smell the roses", and to "simplify the busyness" of life, mostly so we don't overlook those tiny details that truly are more important in the big scheme of life. There are traditions to consider, thoughtful reminders of important cherished moments, and so much more to remember. A few small details might include the ordinary to the extraordinary, especially when our senses are involved. To be thankful always.

Always...

Here are a few of those types of things in my life in recent days....as always in no particular order at all, in fact out of order in some cases.

 - 1 - I'm thankful for BERRIES! All sorts of berries. One of my most favorite breakfasts in late spring and summertime includes enormous, most delicious blueberries first things in the morning. 

A solid runner up in the berry department are strawberries, and when I think of these red delightful yummies, I almost always think of the traditional shared waffles one of my daughters and I used to partake in, loaded with berries and whipping cream. But, the berries and cream had to be "on the side", just so we could ceremoniously dress the waffle our own way and not allow it to become mushy by already being on there when served.

Actually, to be honest, this particular day below, I never ate the waffle, just the berries, a bit of the custard, a bit of the whipping cream, just that there were so many berries offered "on the side" for me, and I thoroughly enjoyed every second of devouring them. I brought the waffle home, and someone else ate it.

 

  - 2 - I'm thankful for cute little outfits for the feast of St. George,  remembering him for his famous fight with the dragon. This cute little green outfit below was worn by our sweet little grandbaby. How cute it was to play with all the little points on her hooded hat.

And just when the feasting was plentiful, a big surprise parcel arrived in the mail from a dear friend, who blessed this wee babe and her mommy in a very special way.  The exquisite rag quilt and matching diaper bag are just so very beautiful, truly lovely for both mommy and baby, and just perfect for some baby tummy time fun. I know my photos snapped on my iphone don't do this lovely quilt justice, so more are coming soon. 

How thoughtful of you my special friend, how loving the works of your hand have always been when constantly choosing to bless another. You are amazing!

Love and Hugs to you my wonderful friend, Barbara

(at "Praying for Grace" where you can see better photos of this beautiful quilt made by her loving hands)

 - 3 - I'm thankful for easy lunches that offer a bit of color, enough variety, some nutrition to write home about, and no one complains. That is the best part to be sure!

- 4 - I'm thankful for music in our home, especially after my husband was finally the lucky recipient of a new electric guitar, my gift to him, a long overdue gift to be sure.

Here's what my husband's announcement was;

"Just for the record, and after many samplings , I bought the FENDER special edition telecaster with the symore duncan humbucking pick-ups, mahogany body and neck... and the spalled maple finish. Very nice in my opinion... nice tones and sounds and nice action on the neck too."

(this is all Greek to me of course....)

There is one more thing of course that I would be remiss if I never mentioned it; An electric guitar requires use of an amplifier. Did I mention before how loud these were? No? Well let me say, not only can they carry quite the decibel range, but they also contain approximately 100 built in various instrumental accompaniment jam sessions for use with such a guitar. Returning home from an outing one day, I entered only to feel (and hear) my whole house pulsating with the beat of some hilariously crazy concert, yet I only found my husband all alone, happily fulfilled and sitting on a chair with his guitar in hand. 

Our younger two broke out in giggles at their guitar dad. It's sure been a while, wasn't sure I'd be a fan of the noise part, but it's fun to see a passionate revival of father and three guitar playing sons talking about the accompaniment of even more instruments in our home. Stay tuned... 

 

(I asked him to pose for me at the store...)

- 5 - I'm thankful for little signs that make me smile, that are hints or tips on how to view life in general. After giving our younger daughter a little talk about how acronyms like LOL shouldn't be used in the context of a live conversation, trying to coach her on proper language skills, along comes a restaurant with a strange name. So, you see, life's like that. It's sometimes a complete waste of energy to dwell on these types of small things, isn't it, though I still say, we really shouldn't use online language IRL (in real life, grinning). After all, when one remembers what this stands for "Laugh out loud", or whatever you choose to use to abbreviate for yourself, laughing is a most definitely a very good thing. :)

- 6 - I'm thankful for the light coming up through the end opening of the schooling tunnel before summer breaks the daily grind up for a time. I'm actually enjoying the sense of peace these days with fine tuned school syllabus weekly schedules, and books becoming complete as each week passes. We're really on target for the most part, and everyone is properly completing and checking off their assignments. 

I'm thinking though of not breaking for the full summer just as I always manage to do, because it's just happening when prime math functions and topics have finally been mastered after placing our son in a great math course offered by a university math professor mom who also homeschools her children. Wow, she's just wonderful! She covers only one math topic per week for at total of ten weeks, ensuring they understand each concept and challenges the teens to follow up at home using "Khan Academy" resource links she provides. She makes it sound so easy, they love it all, and they all love her!

- 7 - I'm thankful for prayerful silent moments, when I'm able to lay it all out there in my conversations with God, be it here in the quiet solitude of a church pew before the rush of a congregation attendance, or on the trails of my forest pathways. There's been so much to chat about these days, so much. 

When the news came, that of my mother in law's passing, we knew everything must fall by the way side, and travel to the westcoast was necessary. There were so many small details where no one knew what to do about them, scrambling became a normal way of life for a few days until all was completed. 

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord,
And let perpetual light shine upon them.

May the souls of the faithful departed,
Through the mercy of God,
Rest in peace.

Amen.

I can only urge every family, young or old, to begin a file folder titled "Estate Planning", and begin gathering documents, ideas and necessities for the "some day" those which will be required during your final moments in life, or after you've passed. And, just because I personally feel this is a huge topic of importance, I'll write a separate post on the topic very soon, including details on what to include in your file folder.

- 8 - I'm thankful for airport reunions when sudden travel occurs after being summoned west for urgent last visits with a family member who is seriously unwell. It's bittersweet to reunite under such circumstances, and always tough to return to normal life when all feels so very helpless from living life at such a distance away. The photo below, believe it or not, was our Easter Sunday afternoon family reunion, but how happy were we to have safe and uneventful travel behind.

- 9 - I'm thankful for healthy imaginations, and child-likeness at any age. This is one of my favorite books these days as we prepare to build surprise fairy houses around our forest trails, little shelters for little visitors, and wonderful scouring from the forest floor to build them with. Who says this is something for children? I'm just a big kid then, right? 

- 10 - I'm thankful for the discovery of Sea Cadets this year and having a son who has realized his love of being on the water. It's been extremely interesting thus far, he's liking the discipline and personal best goals he's set for himself. 

 Whether obtaining his Sailing level 1 ticket, attending a drill marching team, rising to the honor of being awarded the guard drill position no one has obtained in the past four years during his first year of attendance, or being part of the marksmanship team, it's been a busy activity on our calendars to be sure. 

 Recently he attended a mandatory fitness bootcamp weekend, and survived the unexpected drop in frigid temperatures while sleeping in army tents. It was quite the experience to be boiling hot by day, and freezing cold by nightfall, but he survived and slept almost three days straight afterward from a happy fatigue from so many fun and successful accomplishments of those Canadian fitness challenges. And for this, he earned a new badge mom will have to sew on his uniform.

 There's been much in the way of volunteer work, participating in parades and training days, learning all the rope knots one could ever imagine, and learning how important it is to shine his boots and iron his various uniforms. In just two short weeks, up ahead is the mandatory weekly sailing classes for even more experience on the water's edge when having to sail in his own boat. 

I have just one thing to say about all of this - he's loving it....  

And so my family and friends, here you go with another very l-o-n-g installment of just a few of the possible hundreds of thankful things for me at this time. 

Have you been making a list of your own, snapping photos of little details in your life when your eye catches them, or committing them to memory at the very least? If not, begin today. And do share with me. I'd love to hear from you. 

~ Renee