Small treasures are found in the most unexpected places. On the walk to the beach in Cape Cod. Last Saturday.Here are some of the lessons of last month:
... Lacrosse ROCKS! We enjoyed many hours in a warm rink, a welcome change, watching lacrosse and wondering where I can get a copy of “Lacrosse for Dummies”
... I can survive Blackberry withdrawal. My baby ceased charging and I needed to send it out to get fixed, with many thanks to my friend, Lynne who knew exactly where to bring it. I got it back in a record 3 days!
... I picked up a damp Claire every Sunday. Why damp? She was at Dragonboat practice in anticipation of the races in mid-June.
... we endured a very long Spring, but happy that we actually had a Spring rather than going straight from Winter to Summer!
... got my first pair of Tom’s shoes (and my second, third and fourth) and they’re quite comfy as well as charitable.
... baseball season started for Claire. Lots of ball for our girl as she spent the last term of school on the varsity softball team, too.
... thrilled that Chloé tried out for, and made, the Oakville Children’s Choir.
... I continued to mourn the demise of Simple Scrapbooks. I did discover the individual designer blogs and find inspiration through these incredibly talented women.
... cheered both boys as they play 3on3 hockey on Friday nights – in two different rinks.
... we are programmed to say "no" to our children. As any parent knows, requests come in fast and furious. We are inundated daily with numerous demands. I am learning to say "yes". If the request is not dangerous, deadly or disgusting, I now say yes. This makes for a much happier family and a much happier mama. (I've always been bothered by the "if mama isn't happy, ain't nobody happy" sentiment and have learned that the reality is, if the kids aren't happy, mama isn't happy.) So, just say YES!
... I participated in some photo challenges: Earth Mosaic, pink, palette generator, flickr groups … and the new one on Blah, Blah, Blahg and learned a TON. Join in!
... we all enjoyed Mother’s Day with my family. Aren’t traditions wonderful?
... I loosely participated in the Brené Brown read-along (on side bar) … and gave bracelets inspired by her book (and on-line course) to some of my favourite women. If you haven’t yet, go on over and download the assignments and pod casts.
... a bit of a blog break was taken so I could enjoy a few days with girlfriends in Cape Cod. A much deserved break for all of eight of us! Added bonus: I got to “know” the brilliant Christine Mason Miller while ordering her book (which she very kindly inscribed for everyone) as the “goody bag” for our ladies weekend in Cape Cod. She is so inspiring! And so are they. A brilliant formula!
... I participated, again, loosely, in Lain Ehmann’s LayOut A Day challenge for the month of May. Though I did not produce anywhere near the number of layouts I had hoped – or managed to complete in February, I am still pleased with my creative improvement.
... I finally realized, sadly, some adults are willing to submit children to the finer points of semantics; and they sleep at night. Too bad the kid doesn’t.
... many fun and informative conversations were enjoyed with all of my kids. Wow, they’re smart, funny, curious, resilient, kind, courageous …
... reluctantly sent Cole off for his very first visit to Canada’s Wonderland. He enjoyed every minute of it, really.
... bad news: the basement bathroom ceiling caved in. Good news: redesign!
... the house was divided, but I cheered as Kris won American Idol (though, I also enjoyed Adam, I was really rooting for the one who won).
... much time was dedicated while I actively practiced awareness of what makes me happy, sad and afraid and took it further than a simple list – I actually made connections and conclusions.
... following the new "just say yes" philosophy, I enjoyed meeting new people, reacquainting myself with others and enjoyed watching a group of boys who had never played together do well in the Canlan Can-Am hockey tournament.
... we celebrated Caden’s 9th birthday, it was a bit unconventional, but he didn’t seem to mind. Not only that, but he went on a shopping spree at Toys R Us over the weekend and bought all his outdoor toys for the summer!
... happily joined Everyone Can Write A Little and actually managed to create my album BEFORE the class started. Yay me!
... much time was spent cleaning my studio – which was a complete disaster – and removed from the room everything I was never going to use again. Anyone looking for an old-style, still totally new, Creative Memories pages and coversets?
... found some duplication during my "clean" and gave away “blog candy” for the very first time. THAT was a lot of fun! Thinking about doing it again, sometime soon!
... free time spent with an authentic group of friends is beyond compare. If you have not given yourself permission to take the time to connect with those who bring you joy, do it, do it now!
3 comments:
Andrew asked me for a snack of cheese popcorn before bed. I said, no. However, I did counter it with "you can have alphabits instead"! Sometimes no can lead to better options!!
the semantics comment makes me wonder if I am guilty of that?! You sure do get a lot done in a month! How do you do it?!
Lee! Wow, it was so great to catch up!! I so enjoy reading here and I really love all the links you pass on to us! I've "met" so many talented and wonderful women through them. Loved the article on prayer you sent - will be addressing that in my blog eventually and love hearing any bit about your get away with the girls to the Cape. I think I'll be ordering that book too! ;]
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