My extended family has a couple of plots at the city's cemetery -- which happens to be 2 blocks from our house -- and my uncle, grandparents and father have been laid to rest there.
The unfortunate thing is that my remaining uncles and dad could not be bothered to have a stone mark my grandma's grave when she passed in '92. My dad's older brother was responsible for my grandad's finances when he was admitted to an extended care facility a few years later.... but still no marker. Ten long years went by before my grandad finally passed -- after many years of suffering from Parkinson's, dementia, and (most of all) a broken heart. Maybe grandad thought it would be too costly to have a marker for grandma, only to have it changed or replaced to include his details later. I don't know. But why did it take SIX YEARS to have a marker created for them once grandad passed?
I will spare you the details of an outrageous feud between brothers and in-laws over wills and inheiretance... only to explode after my father's death, resulting in the remaining two brothers not speaking, and awkwardness between all the cousins.
Anyway, my grandparents now have a marker that can be looked upon when loved ones come by to pay their respects. Rant done. The reason for this blog was not to winge and moan about all that.
My thoughts were on a positive note. Not about the triviality of my Baby-Boomer relatives, but of the sentimentality of Generation Z (??). Even after 3 1/2 years, my step-mom still pays her respects to my dad nearly every week (along with her mother at another cemetery) to trim the grass around the edge of the markers and care for the potted plants she always leaves. Sometimes, she stops at our place first and invites Brianna to walk to the cemetery with her -- and Brianna is always willing to go. Brianna was only 20 months old when my dad passed away (the age of the twins now), so I know that the chance of her having a memory of him is quite slim. Even so, she says she misses him and talks to him freely when she visits the cemetery. She even calls out "Hi" to him when we drive by!
It just goes to show that no matter what goes on in some adult's fickle lives, children hold on to their sentiments... un-restrained love that is never shy or embarrased, whether it be for a passed loved one, or a Barbie doll. I think we fickle adults should take reminders like that seriously. We should feel free to speak out loud to passed loved ones when we visit their markers, and we should show our excitement and gratitude over even the smallest gift.
In case you hadn't noticed, Brianna was named after my dad... Brian.
I'm WWWWAAAAAYYYY behind in my blogging, so I'm just going to start at the beginning and work my way forward. On May 31st, I had a Help Whip Cancer fundraiser for the Pampered Chef. As a party favour, I crocheted these cute coffee cozies and gave them to my guests. I found the pattern here. I had to adjust the pattern a bit in order for the cozies to fit a Starbucks Vente cup and a Tim Horton's XL cup.
PS: The flowers were from my MIL for my daughter's new playhouse. They make a nice decoration!
Uh.... I think I'll pass.
I was sitting in the Tim Horton's drive-thru line for our morning Double-Doubles (Steeped Tea for me!), and I saw two guys jump out of their truck, hand a camera to a girl walking down the sidewalk, and pose in front of the sign. It took me a sec to figure out what they were doing.
By the time I passed the same sign a couple of hours later, it had been changed to "Angus". Glad I snapped the shot when I had the chance!
The day after the Playhouse Raising BBQ, there was still a bit of work to be done on the house. Finishing work and so on. It was another scortcher, so we set up the kiddie pool to let the girls cool off and stay out of Daddy & Papa's way. It was the first time the twins ever went in (they were too small last year), and they just loved it! We were smart to not fill it with cold water from the hose... we filled it half way, and then attached the hose to the hot water feed to the washer. Voila! Perfect temperature.
Mike gets full credit for that idea!
I am amazed that this pool is still in working order. I bought this for my daycare at least 3 years ago, and I haven't been so diligent about storing it carefully. No holes! The roof is great... it attaches to the pool with velcro.
The polka-dotted swimsuits and hats were Easter gifts from our good neighbour friends. I just love them! Brianna was given a matching suit as well, but she wore hers the day before.
Our May long weekend was a cooker... and the perfect time to build a playhouse! My Mom bought the kit for the girls as a Christmas present, and she was just vibrating all winter -- she couldn't wait to see it built! We knew that Mike would not be able to get it done in a timely manner by himself, so we invited a big group of friends and family over for a Playhouse Raising BBQ. It started around 11 AM, and everyone packed it in by about 7 PM. We served lunch and dinner to everyone and provided plenty of beer, iced tea, pop and juice. The twins enjoyed their first ever freezie (smart Mommy gave them clear ones), and all of the kids had a blast playing in the sprinklers, playing badminton, riding bikes and trikes and just goofing off (there were 7 kids in all).
The thing was literally in pieces and came with instructions that may as well have been written in Swahili. Andy, Andrew, Brian, Darrell and Mike were up to the challenge.... and thankfully Andrew is in construction!
I could not believe how well the guys worked together... and how fast the house went up! By the end of the day, all that was left were some finishing touches and a few boards to hammer on. Mike and his Dad took care of that the next day.
The house is so cute with its little porch and steps! Brianna just loves it! We had a wee wooden table and chair set from Ikea in the playroom, so that's in the house now so that the girls can have little tea parties and so on. I am so proud of Mike and the guys and I appreciate all their hard work.
I hope this playhouse becomes the girls' sancuary/club house/no-boys-allowed place to hang out. I can imagine Crayola artwork tacked to the walls, treasures and collections stored in old cookie tins and shoe boxes, comics and books piled in the corners, blankets and cusions on the floor during the summer.... and stories of every dream, goal and crush filling every nook and cranny. Perfect!
I made Brianna a sandwich -- to her specifications, I might add -- and she just couldn't eat the whole thing. She gave me her trademark SIGH and declared, "I'm feeling full, Mom."
My usual response is to ask her to eat 3 - 5 more bites (I decide on the fly), but this time I asked her to eat half of what was left. Not understanding "half", Brianna asked me to clarify.
I pointed to the centre of the piece and said, "Eat all the way to the middle of the piece. Then, you will have eaten half of it."
This is what was left after she triumphantly declared that she had eaten all the way to the middle:
Notice how you can see the middle of the sandwich? She just couldn't understand why I laughed so hard and just had to take a picture!
I can't believe my last post was April 5th!!! My Vox page is my husband's home page when he logs onto the internet, so he will be very happy that he no longer has to see my last post.
I have to say this last month has been crazy! I was out of commision for a whole week with what was most likely bronchitis or pneumonia, but -- much to my husband's dismay -- I did not seek medical attention. Major cough, fever and aches and pains kept me on the couch (one day in BED) so I was so thankful that Mike was able to step up to the plate and take over some of the more important day-to-day stuff... uh... like feeding the kids. I didn't even have the energy to crochet, let alone blog. I tried to keep tabs on all of you, though, and I just spent a couple of hours reading the last few weeks of my 'hood's posts.
The kids have been ill off and on too. This household should have yellow 'quarantine' tape around it. We have been passing colds to each other like crazy, and I am hoping we are at the end of all that business. Brianna was off school all last week with a fever, but the Dr couldn't find the cause right away, asked that we just monitor her for a couple more days before he orders tests, et voila -- the next day no more fever! She obviously fought whatever it was she had, but I can't help touching her forehead now and then.
I have not been that sick since... I just don't know when. I am usually lucky when it comes to dodging colds. Not this time.
I have finally posted a new profile pic with my new 'do. I posted about my haircut a while back, but I have had it cut even shorter since then and I just love it. My husband did not have much to say about it. I guess it was one of those "Don't say anything at all" things.
Anyway, I have so much to share with all of you. I'm just going to start with a couple of pics that I am just busting to show you:
We call this the "Cheetah Couch"... although, I think it's more of a jaguar print. We bought it for Brianna when she was about 2 1/2 so that she had something just-her-size to sit on and watch Dora and Blue's Clues. We brought it out of retirement for the twins and they love using it as a comfy reading spot.
I have often said that the twins are "The best of friends and the worst of enemies", so moments like these are so precious! That Elmo book is majorly coveted by both girls. It is now ready to be taped together -- again! -- and the front cover has been peeled off. Can't throw it out though. Major jammer would ensue and I'm not into dealing with that right now.
** I just love the way Kaitlyn plonked herself down between Ainsley's legs. See her wee stripety foot to Kaitlyn's left? Too cute!
How are your Saturday nights different now than they were five years ago?
This is what Mike and I often did on the weekends. As a matter of fact, we usually ended our work weeks with a Friday Date Night that consisted of parking ourselves on a couple of barstools to eat, drink & chat the night away. To be fair, this was more like 6 years ago and back.
This is how I spent practically every night about 18 months ago. Yahoo. This is when days started to just mold into one, so Saturdays were no longer a "night out". At least when we had just Brianna, we could still go out to eat quite often since a sitter was easy to arrange. Or, we would go out as a family since Brianna was pretty easy to handle.
And this pretty much represents Saturdays for me now. Trying to arrange for a sitter for all three kids is difficult -- believe it or not, we don't have a line-up of volunteers at our door! The last time we went out for dinner, it was a couple weeks ago on a Thursday night. We arranged for my friend Naomi to do the first couple of hours and put the girls to bed, and then our friend that is staying with us for a few months hung out while the girls slept. The time before that, was way back in the beginning of DECEMBER! Both Grandmas stayed at the house while Mike and I went away for the night.
Oh yes... times have changed! I've gone from closing down bars and pubs, to reading bedtime stories and watching rented movies till I fall asleep!
Know what? I wouldn't go back for anything!
Well... maybe for a good night's sleep and a loooong lie in the next morning!
Brianna had fun spinning and twirling... and I had fun playing with the camera!
I call this one "The Helicopter"!!
If you were independently wealthy, where in the world would you live?
Submitted by Eileen.Without a doubt, I would pack my bags and move to Scotland! I just love it in Britain, and Scotland is my favorite (even though my family is from Southern England). I love the city of Edinburgh... the history, the fantasitc buildings and monuments, and of course the pubs!!
If Mike had his way, we would live in Portree on the Isle of Skye in Northern Scotland. A beautiful town (village?), but maybe a bit small for me!
And just so ya know, I took these photos on our wedding/honeymoon trip to Scotland nearly 3 years ago! No Google images for me! ;-)
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Recent Comments
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Tara M said:
Why thank you, Sis! They were fun to make (and quick too!). read more
on Crochet Coffee Cozies -
OlderthanTara said:
Those are beautiful markers. I've never seen one quite like it. Brianna was named after our father and I was... read more
on New Pics 624 -
OlderthanTara said:
Those are really sweet. I saw one on Mike's facebook post and I had to smile when I saw how... read more
on Crochet Coffee Cozies -
Flamingo Dancer said:
[this is good]what a lovely daughter and step-mother you have been gifted with...you are a credit to your Dad and Mum. read more
on Baby Boomers vs Generation Z
It does seem surreal... especially when you think that your names also rhyme! ;-) read more
on New Pics 624