catching up

Somewhere between the cold temperatures, the busyness of 3 kids, homework, meal preps, life  and commitments, I have let certain important practices, that I know to help me in my happiness slip.
Instead of prioritizing my walks, time in nature, sleep and  journaling, I have let other parts of my life take over and I am feeling sluggish for it. But instead of beating myself up for indulging in far too many sweets, and not getting to bed at a good time, I am simply going to give myself permission to reset. Yes. More rest. More walks. Better food. More nature.
I realize that life is one big ebb and flow. I'm also realizing that when I let go of these things that I know to help me feel better, that anxiety and pressure start to build up. So, back to the basics for me. Back to prioritizing self care. That's what this is really about.

... catching up on life ...

We've had my dad here now for about 3 weeks now, and it is very nice to have him here. The first few weeks took adjusting to for all of us, but we seem to be falling into a nice rhythm and it's very nice to have the extra set of hands here (especially when Winslow is at work).
But on top of an extra set of hands, it is most nice to see my children form a relationship with him and to build memories. It's the most simple of things, but when I see us all sit down to a meal, or watch them play a board game, I feel so blessed that we all have this time together. Over the past 10 years or so, if there is one thing that I have learned, it is that life cannot be taken for granted. We just don't know what lies ahead for any of us, and so it really is this moment, right now that counts.

...

In an attempt to socialize more and to feed into my need for creativity, I hosted a women's craft night last week and it was a nice little gathering. I chose a very simple and open ended craft, something I hoped that everyone would feel comfortable making, and asked people to bring a snack to share.
We all ended up having a nice evening of good food, drinks, conversation and creativity.
...

March Break came and went, with a mix of rest and fun for all of us. A bug ran it's course through the family, and each day, I found the kids and Winslow to be down right tired. Naps were had by all, but we also managed a little excursion, to Halifax. We stayed at a hotel with a pool, went out to eat, went to a library program and did some shopping.
On our last day of March Break, I decided that I would finally give in to the pleas I've heard over the last two years, and we threw a birthday party for Ryder and his dog friend Carly. Simple decorations from our box of left over balloons and streamers, a gift for each dog (tennis balls), cupcakes for the dogs(healthy recipe found online), and cake for us from the grocery store, because... cake. Any excuse for cake is a good excuse by me!

...

Just yesterday, after what felt like a week or two of missing our outdoor time (sickness, cold temps), we headed out to Baxter's Harbour, a short 30 min drive from our house. Baxter's Harbour is a small village, that sits on the Bay of Fundy and is right between Hall's Harbour and Scott's Bay. It has a lovely waterfall that you can walk under at low tide, all kinds of rocks to climb, and tons a beautiful stones and sea glass to pick through. This will be a place we return to. I can see us having a lovely picnic there in the Summer or Spring.

...

And finally, we have a reader! Grandpa bought us a copy of Harry Potter, so that we could read it all together, but Noah has taken it upon himself to read ahead sometimes. I let him, because I think it's great that he wants to give it a go, but I am still going to read it aloud, because I don't want him to miss parts, and because reading together is a special thing.

Life is busy and I don't always find the time or inspiration to write on my blog. It takes time and effort to pull out my camera, take the photos, upload them and write a blog post. But every time I come back to my blog, I am thankful that I have taken the time to do this. To document our days. To stop and think about the special moments. At the risk of sounding all philosophical, I feel in my heart that our day to day life is truly a gift to be cherished. To be experienced. The good, the bad, the hard stuff and easy stuff. Thanks for always coming along with me.
xox

down by the creek

I love how summer opens up new opportunities for us. Winter (as I'm sure you all know by now), is long here in the Yukon. And with that, we lose space and places to go in our community during those long cold months. With summer, there are new places to go, which can be such a welcomed sight, when we've been limited for months on end with only a few places to go. 

Today, as a family, we drove down the road to the creek for a walk and snack. We brought Ryder along for it, and he seemed so happy to run through the woods, and dash through the rushing creek. 

With the sounds of the water, rushing along the stones and pebbles, we sat and ate a little snack. Poor Noah was feeling under the weather, so he opted to be held by either Daddy or I. 

It was just a short trip down to the creek, but exactly what we all needed. A change in scenery, the sights and sounds of nature, and a dose of fresh air. 

Have I fully expressed just how happy summer is making me feel? The wild roses? Sigh. So beautiful. 

Happy summer days dear friends. 

xox

end of summer

 why yes, Noah IS wearing a balaclava on a hot summer's day. Something about being a ninja... 

I think?

Our first customer! we actually ended up with 4 customers, not bad for our sleepy little street. 

With the impending school year about to start, we've been enjoying these last few summer days as best we can. Walks to the park and meeting up with friends, swimming at the local pool, blueberry picking, having a lemonade stand and playing board games on rainy afternoons.
As it seems to do every year, summer seems to have snuck away from us already. It is almost mid August and here we are preparing to start school (at home and at school). This year we will be continuing with our plans to  home school Noah for the mornings, and to send him to school in the afternoons. I have been working away at planning our school year, so that I can stay on track and not need to worry about coming up with ideas mid way through the year.
I am basing our school year around themes (such as seasons, holidays, nature, particular animals. people and our country). Withe these units, I will add crafts, books, songs, math and writing activities and more. We will also continue with the daily activities that we love to do, such as nature walks, nature collecting, storytime, baking, art, board games, sensory and imaginative play ect. I'm excited and hope I can keep the momentum going all year.
I'm also hoping to get back to a more organized meal plan. I know that once I start homeschooling, I will want my meals better organized, so that I don't need to spend hours in the kitchen during the weekdays. I think some big batch cooking on weekends will help with this (spaghetti sauce, chilli, soups, etc). I'm scouring Pinterest for new ideas.
There's just something so exciting about the back-to-school season. The fresh outlook, the new start, the opportunity to make things better. I'm getting excited for our upcoming year, and for our first real stab at homeschooling (I feel like last year was a practice year).
So wish me luck as we begin. I'll be thinking of all the students and teachers as they start off the new year.
xox

ps. We love Ryder 

... lately

I have so much to catch up on in this little space. Time continues to fly by and I put my blogging on hold so that I can enjoy it all.

The real truth behind why I don't always blog so frequently is actually because of pictures. Yes, my pictures are holding me back.

I've become lazy about uploading and then formatting my pictures to put on the blog and somewhere, a long time I ago, I decided that every blog post that I do should include pictures. I'm not so sure if that really matters to me anymore. I do love pictures, but I am also perfectly happy to read blogs that don't always include pictures... anyways, maybe more posts and less pictures? I'm still figuring it out. Moving on....

Life has been moving along at warp speed. We are already into week 2 of summer vacation, our last day of school as Tues June 3rd! The last few days of school were spent having a community wide end of year BBQ and a day at the local lake, which included hotdogs on the fire, marshmallows, fishing and kite flying. It was a lovely way to wrap up the school year.

Also, our community swimming pool opened up the same week. And while I may not love the idea of a public chlorinated pool, I have to say, we are very lucky to have access to this pool here in our tiny isolated community. Without the pool, we would have a very bored group of kids, with no where to go and get out their energy. We truly are very fortunate to have our pool and are thankful for the lifeguard who has come up for the summer. She will be offering all of the children free swimming lessons, which we plan on doing.

As we kick start our summer, we are making a few plans for some travel, some camping, and trying to come up with ideas for things that we can do here at home. I've gone ahead and have set up a few sensory tables outside. We have a water table and a cloud dough table. I like having a few fun things all ready to go for the kids, for when they start to get a little bored. I have also challenged Noah and Katia to read 100 books this summer (which actually means we read 100 books together). I made a fun chart and we add stickers every time we read a book. Once the chart is full, I have promised them that we will go see a movie at the theater in town.

And also, in more exciting and important news, we added a little addition to our family this past week. His name is Ryder and we are very much enjoying having him here.

Ryder was found on Friday June 6th, at the community garden. He had followed a man who was coming to our community BBQ. Ryder went around to everyone, being very sweet and gentle. Everyone began to talk. Who does he belong to? Do you think he has a home?

We asked the man who Ryder had followed, and he didn't really know who the dog belonged to. He mentioned someone, and with that we decided we'd go talk to them to see if they wanted him.

Some people may think this story sounds strange, but unless you've been in a "community", you might not get it. Without judgement, I will try to explain.

Many dogs (not all) in communities are treated much differently than what the average dog owner might expect is okay. Many dogs live "pack style" and wander around looking for food and shelter. Sometimes these dogs have owners, but still live outside and fend for themselves. It can often be hard to tell is a dog has an owner, or if it is just sorta "taken care of" by many.

We talked to the people who we thought owned Ryder, but they didn't seem to be sure if they recognized him. We put the word out that we had him, and if anyone was looking for him, to come and get him. No one did. And we were perfectly happy with that.

Ryder is a sweet boy, who we think might be part Husky and maybe some German Shepherd. He is small still, we think 6 months maybe, but has a calm and obedient disposition. I wanted to be his "master" but I think he has taken a shining to Winslow. When Winslow leaves for work, Ryder cries and wails. It's actually very sweet.

 We have talked for a long time about adding a dog to our family. I think adding a pet to a family is a very serious decision to make and must be made in the best interest of everyone. As most people know, dogs require a lot of time and energy. And to have a well behaved dog, you need to provide them with exercise and consistent training. If Ryder had come any earlier into our lives, I don't think I would've agreed to take him on. But at this point, Katia and Noah are getting to be older and more self sufficient ... and to be honest with you, Ryder so far has been an amazing dog, so I am happy to say that this is just a great fit for us.

And I shall leave it at that for now.