Fun in the harbour

Recently a friend and I headed down to the inner harbour and checked out the buskers. This guy was juggling fire, while balanced on a metal pipe. There was some amazing artists selling their wares. I love looking at what people have created. It was fun to step away for a couple hours from it all... 

School is coming.... yes it is!

This year the return to school is a biggie for me. My twins will be heading to kindergarten. Full day kindergarten! I havet had full days to myself since before kids. My twins arrived just as my oldest was heading into kindergarten.... so while I am dreading not seeing the little gaffers all day, I am looking forward to getting life back to some kind of "normalcy".

Having my Mother inlaw, who has alzhiemers, to help requires quite a bit of time too. So I will hardly be rolling in the free hours. But I am SO looking forward to organizing my house.

We live in a small house... a very small house. I could say its cozy.. but most of the time its too cozy for comfort. Five of us in a two bedroom home.. plus a dog.... yeah you get the picture! While I clean one area, the rest of the house is being "uncleaned" quickly.

I am also hoping to get some challenges for myself going... I was reading a blog today on organization.. decluttering, and I saw a discussion on taking on a challenge a month of stopping something. Quite a few were trying to not swear for a month.. I need to give it some thought but I like the idea. Challenging yourself feels good. Here is the link to the blog, incase you want to read it for yourself. http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/give-it-up

Award Ceremony

Today was my oldest's school award ceremony. I am so incredibly proud of her. Last year she missed a lot of school, she got sick a lot.. including a bout when she was very sick with swine flu. So this year she did a year long review of last years math, along with completing this years. She will never be a mathematicians, but she is doing well and holding her own. It wasn't easy to come home every day and do math homework either! Her report card was wonderful. Now for a summer full of fun.... AND no math homework! :)

Can't pick your family

When I met my husbands family for the first time.. and got to know them. I never thought I would end up being one of the primary caretakers of my Mother Inlaw.
My Father inlaw passed away and I started noticing things about my Mother Inlaws behaviour that bothered me, worried me. I mentioned it to other family members who said she was "fine". Well she wasnt, isn't. She now lives in an assisted living condo. I do her shopping for her and am her rock. She calls me when she is worried, mad, confused and bored. I do my best to be all that she needs. I certainly dont begrudge her this at all. She is a wonderful woman and I love her. But I do get angry that her own family are so quick to pass it to me. She deserves to have them WANT to be there for her.

Its Spring.. almost Summer

Wow we have had the most crazy weather here on the west coast.. everything is behind. But slowly its starting to feel like mother nature is catching up..

The bird house in our backyard is a hive of activity and the bugs are starting to show up.. even the dreaded wasps that my 4 yr old is terrified of because of her first sting last year.

Blast from the past.... errr not soooo past.

This past late spring I had the opportunity to spend a while wandering the grounds of Hatley Castle, also known as Royal Roads University. The grounds are beautiful. Being late spring the gardens were bursting with new growth...and the green that IS spring.

Life is good!

The kids and I spent a wonderful day at the beach. The wind was blowing and the birds were loving flying in it. You could see their enjoyment in the way they caught it just right and would dip down, skimming along the water. Were spent three hours there and dug in the sand, played and just enjoyed lazing in the sunshine. Summer is winding down but this was one day that we slowed down and savoured it completely.

Some green

March is the month of green. We are very fortunate here to have a lot of green all year round. I know I would miss it if it was covered in snow for months. Even so, the soft green that comes in the spring along with the darker more "mature" green is so serene. I love how it makes you feel.

DO geese have teeth?

I always thought that geese did not have teeth. Perhaps they dont, but there is something in there! I was feeding some by hand, trying to coax the right pose for a picture and got bit everytime they took the bread. There is something in those mouths, because it really hurt, lol.

Distractions

Sometimes we need a distraction. Some things can't be changed and you just have to deal with them. This past week, was a case of that, for me. Being sick, with sick kids and a sick husband..... I just had to suck it up and let it run its course. I felt like going to bed and sleeping for a week....While others slept, I went to the beach and then picked Kristin up from school. We went to an old Artillery Fort that was built in the 1890's, and explored a bit. Sometimes distractions are fun :)
These pictures are all better viewed in full size! Click on them to see them full and then click your back button to come back.

A promise

It is far to early to be thinking of spring. These buds that I found in our yard hold out the promise though that it will be coming. How nice that we can always count on certain things.

The wild life

This adorable little guy was looking for something to eat. I threw him a few cashews and he let me take his picture :)
These squirrels are not native to here and are slowly taking over. Our native squirrel is a very dark color. Still, they are super cute! :)

Drizzly Days

Sunday was drizzly, misty wet day. Not really wet enough to call it rain but dismal all the same. If you live anywhere along the coast you know what I mean. It was a planned picture day and I did attempt but the day was pretty dark, not the promising sunny day the weather forecaster predicted. I still had fun. Fed some seals by hand at Fisherman's Wharf, got some fresh air and chats with a friend. I did get a few pictures too