Unexpected Road Trip

I got to go home (to Guelph) last week for a last minute trip.   Under normal circumstances, I would say I loved it but the reason I went home was to support my longest childhood and best friend after the sudden death of her mother and her best friend.

This was the first time I drove 'completely' solo, alone (the last time I had my aunt to follow in her car). It was just Noah and I...Jacques had to stay home to work. Surprisingly enough, I felt so comfortable (even despite the weather not being so favourable) driving alone. Noah was a perfect driving 'co-captain', couldn't have asked for better. We left last Wednesday and drove straight through (well, from here toToronto). We stopped in Toronto (Vaughn) at Chuck E. Cheese's to meet a friend, Christine with her 2 boys - Gabriel & Xavier. We had fun. It was SO nice spending some time with her and meeting her boys.

While in Guelph, I got a nice visit in with my grandparents, my aunt, my cousin, etc.  It was really nice and HAD I thought about it, I could have planned it so I was home (in Guelph) for Christmas, but I didn't so be it.

We left on Monday (considering New Brunswick) was scheduled to receive bad weather on Tuesday and Wednesday.  Monday we had a near perfect day.  First stop, Woodbridge to visit with Christine, her boys and her mom.  Beautiful people and very welcoming....  I thoroughly enjoyed my visit (and the tea they served - YUMMY).  Then we drove 2 more hours and visited another childhood friend, Leslie (that I hadn't seen since I was pregnant for Noah).  Noah loved playing with Keaton & Chloe (and with Meg, too) - very welcoming house as well.  It was absolutely wonderful to spend almost 4 hours with her and the kids, especially when her mom dropped in (we figure it had been since 1987 that I had seen her).

I've got lots of photos that I will upload (soon)....just wanted to get a post on my blog before Christmas!

Monday night we stayed in Montreal and when I got up, I felt like CRAP...but had to drive - NO CHOICE.  The last 2 hours of my drive were horrible - we hit bad weather.  I got home, unpacked then allowed myself to finally 'feel how I felt' - LIKE CRAP.  By Wednesday morning, I had a fever and felt just terrible.  Noah pretty much took care of me all day, what a helpful lil' man!  I am SO proud of him and his efforts while Daddy was at work!!

So we are all home safe & sound now....and waiting for Christmas.

Grand Falls, NB Boulevard Fire - Dec 17 2009

Was really impressed with this video tribute montoge documenting the fire that took 4 historic buildings on the Boulevard in Grand Falls, NB (where we call home now).   Twelve families and several businesses lost everything, 8 days before Christmas. Thankfully, all were evacuated from the buildings with no injuries.

Within a few days, over $60,000 was raised, to help those in need.  I heard that local children were bringing their piggy banks in to donate.  A warehouse of furniture, clothing, household items was collected for the families affected.

It's great to live in a small community and feel the closeness at times like this.

Take the time to watch the video from start to finish, you're heart will be warmed.

Life...

is slowly starting to feel 'somewhat' normal again (though it still hurts way too much) since Isabelle moved in with a new family, 3 weeks ago today.  It's tough.  Immense grief has taken me by complete surprise, considering how 'at peace' we were with our decision for this to happen.

I've got lots to say, but right now probably is NOT the right time to share considering I'm in the 'anger' stage - so I've got lots of negative stuff to say that I'd rather not say at all.

We're well into our winter routine:  Tuesdays, Noah has basketball, Thursday, I have bible study Monday or Wednesday, Jacques has volleyball and Friday's, Jacques has curling.  Next week, Noah's basketball games are starting so now we'll have 2 nights per week of basketball.

We're wishing for lots more snow around here since we got a ski-doo last year (late in the season)....and SOON!!!  The ski-doo has taken over the garage and I've been told by Jacques that the cars will NOT go in the garage this year!  :(  I may still have my own way later in the winter season!!!  

All the Christmas cards have been sent, all the presents bought & wrapped, so now we just wait for the big day.  I want to savour EVERY magical moment with Noah this year because I am almost certain this will be his last year believing in Santa.  At least, once per week he comes home with questions and comments about Santa not being real and what the other kids are saying.  So far (at least I believe this), I've been able to convince him (or he's better at convincing me that he still believe's, for the sake of his Santa present) that Santa IS real!!!  We'll see.....but like I said, we plan to savour every last moment with Santa stuff!!!

I'm gonna try my hardest to get back on a regular blogging schedule........now that life is somewhat normal (or at least way less eventful & stressful). 

9 and 1/4 inches

I'm almost there....it's been a long process, but my ponytail now measures 9 and 1/4 inches.  Only 3/4 inches to go in order for it to reach the minimum 10 inches to donate my hair to Locks of Love that "is a public non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children in the United States and Canada under age 21 suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis".

My hair is driving me NUTS.  It keeps getting caught under my purse's shoulder strap and now that it's winter coat season, I always have my hair in a ponytail so it's not all static'y from rubbing in my collar.

I've been growing my hair now for almost 2 years.  Technically, it should only take about a year to grow your 10 inches, but I made a big mistake in the summer of 2008 (when I got bleached hightlights).  It was about 2 weeks after I got the highlights that I realized and when 'DAAHHHH, what did I do that for?'.  So, not only did I have to grow my hair ONCE, but in order to grow out all the highlights, I had to grown my hair TWICE.

Though I could find other places to donate only 8 inches of hair to, I've decided that I'm going to donate to Locks of Love that require 10 inches.  The reason:  it helps KIDS!!!  So even though I have to wait (arrg) to cut my hair another couple of months - it's all worth it knowing that my hair will be contributed towards a hair piece for a child!

So officially, I only have about 3/4 of an inche left and I can't wait to get a new short SASSY hair cut!!!

Something cute....

....to say I actually made a blog post!!!

Some very cute OXYMORON's!!!

• Is it good if a vacuum really sucks?
• Why is the third hand on the watch called the second hand?
• If a word is misspelled in the dictionary, how would we ever know?
• If Webster wrote the first dictionary, where did he find the words?
• Why do we say something is out of whack? What is a whack?
• Why does "slow down" and "slow up" mean the same thing?
• Why does "fat chance" and "slim chance" mean the same thing?
• Why do "tug" boats push their barges?
• Why do we sing "Take me out to the ball game" when we are already there?
• Why are they called "stands" when they are made for sitting?
• Why is it called "after dark" when it really is "after light"?
• Doesn't "expecting the unexpected" make the unexpected expected?
• Why are a "wise man" and a "wise guy" opposites?
• Why do "overlook" and "oversee" mean opposite things?
• Why is "phonics" not spelled the way it sounds?
• If work is so terrific, why do they have to pay you to do it?
• If all the world is a stage, where is the audience sitting?
• If love is blind, why is lingerie so popular?
• If you are cross-eyed and have dyslexia, can you read all right?
• Why is bra singular and panties plural?
• Why do you press harder on the buttons of a remote control when you know the batteries are dead?
• Why do we put suits in garment bags and garments in a suitcase?
• How come abbreviated is such a long word?
• Why do we wash bath towels? Aren't we clean when we use them?
• Why doesn't glue stick to the inside of the bottle?
• Why do they call it a TV set when you only have one?
• Christmas - What other time of the year do you sit in front of a dead tree and eat candy out of your socks?
• Why do we drive on a parkway and park on a driveway? I dunno, why do we?

Rice for Haiti

In the end, $495 was collected (so we pitched in the last $5 to make it an even $500).

Dianne got off safely yesterday, flew to Miami today and will fly to Haiti tomorrow. 

Maurice reported that in their 20 years of being married he had NEVER seen her SO excited.

He took lots of photos as they were packing the car and of her with the bags of stuff.

I'll be submitting the money to New Missions early in the week (once I deposit the funds into my acct).

Here are some cool numbers that you may be interested in:

• 
  
  1 - 110lb sack of rice will feed 360 children
  
  
  
• 
  
  1 sack of rice costs $42 per sack (price went up significantly since last year's price of $30 per sack)
  
  
  
• 
  
  $500 (collected) divided by $42 per sack = 11.9 sacks of rice
  
  
  
• 
  
  11.9 sacs of rice X 360 children = 4284 meals we've collected money to feed
  
  
  

Rice for 4284 meals was raised

WOW, thank you doesn't even come close to describing the gratitude I feel for all your contributions.

There were 18 contributions in total, averaging almost a $30 donation from each donator.  WOW.....thank you so much for all your generosity.

When Dianne returns from her trip, I will sure post several photos to share with you.

Life is not measured.....

My facebook status today reads:

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. Today is a NEW day and I am breathless.

To find out why, email me so I can add you to our private "Count Your Blessings" blog.

Won't you please HELP?

UPDATED (posted Fri Nov 20)

My quest to raise a few dollars to buy rice has gone so much better than expected. We are now up to $475 and still climbing. There is still time for you to get your donations in, the last day I'll be collecting is Fri Dec 4.

I found this photo of some of the school children sitting on all the sacks of rice...I just fell in love with this photo!

Maurice & Dianne just received an update from 'New Missions' about the price per sack. A 110 lb sack of rice, will feed about 360 meals. The price of a 110 lb sack has gone up from $30 to $42. So far, we have 11 FULL sacks (and 1 1/2 sack) of rice which equates to feeding about 4100 meals. WOW....

THANK YOU so much.

There is still time to donate. Please contact me if you wish to donate, or pay through paypal (top right corner of the blog).

UPDATE (posted Thurs Oct 29)
So our new goal - of $300 - was met last night. I actually had someone (a lady on a same committee as me who I don't know all that well) come up to me in the grocery store and hand me money. She said, 'it's for a great cause'. I was in tears and so very thankful, as I am with each dollar that is coming in.

To be honest, God is showing what he can truly do. I NEVER expected to raise much more than 2 or 3 sacs of rice (or $90), so I set our goal HIGH (at $180). But, I guess God had bigger plans for me that what I did for myself. Isn't that always the case!!!

In 1 week only, I have collected enough money to buy 10 sacs of rice to feed 100 families for a week. HOW encouraging is THAT!!!

Maurice (Dianne's husband) told me a story last night (forgive me if the details are a little off, but the main point and truth will be told): So last year when the rice was being handed out, this shy little boy came from school to get rice with his little back pack on his back. The person handing out the rice, looked at this shy little boy and filled his container with a little extra rice for his family. When the person put the rice on the little boy's back pack, he FELL OVER!!! When Maurice told this to Noah, Isabelle and I - we laughed so hard. Such a cute story! God Bless his little soul and of the people donating to providing this little boy and his family food for over a week.

I just don't know where t

UPDATE (posted Mon Oct 26)
As of this morning (in just 4 days), we have reached $200 and surpassed our goal (of $180 or 6 sacs of rice). You guys ROCK....THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for all your generosity.

Any new ideas for our next goal??? For now, I'll do $100 at a time. But does anyone dare to challenge me???

ORIGINAL MESSAGE (posted Thurs Oct 22)
I want to tell you about one of my dearest friends.

Her name is Dianne. We met last year at church. Our hearts connected. She is one in a million. Lately, we have been growing closer over a few common interests we share. First and foremost, our love for Christ, crafts and dreams of helping the poor by going on a mission trip.

Not only me, but our family has been spending more time with her. When I go to visit and we knit and talk and giggle and chat. It's weird, I never thought I would say one of my dearest friends was so much 'more mature' than I - but she is.

Just the other day, I decided to take over the Rubbermaid of clothes & shoes for her to ship to her sponsor daughter in Haiti with a friend of hers who was going to her village in December.

The following day, she told me 'guess what - I think I may be going with my friend to Haiti and I'll get to meet my sponsor daughter and her family'. She called me on Monday to tell me that she was going for sure. WOW...she was so excited, I was so excited, my kids have been so excited....we are all SO excited.

Since Monday....look at ALL she has done to help her sponsor family and many other families in their community - ALL BY HERSELF. She has shopped till she dropped. She's made all little parcels for families including one BIG hockey duffel bag for her sponsor family and hundreds of other items for all the other families. Things like crackers, suckers, hair clips, face clothes, shampoo, toothpaste, undies, maxi pads, socks, shirts....and SO many more items.

When I asked her if I could do a vitamin or medicine drive for her - she was surprised herself to find that she didn't have any more room in her bags (and she doesn't leave for another 6 weeks). Maurice, her husband, told me that in one week she has stuffed 2 - 50 lb bags of items to help the families in the community. He said 'she stuffs the bags, then steps on the scales, over and over to fit every last item that she can'. She is even planning leaving ALL her clothes when she leaves Haiti for the women of the community.

Look at ALL the items she has bought, carefully packaged and will be donating:

Dianne has the BIGGEST heart you could ever imagine. She has the will to do God's work, to help the extreme impoverished people of this world. She is about to live a dream she has dreamed of doing since she was a little girl..... (and selfishly, I get to live through her experience something that I too dream of doing one day). I am SO excited for her and want to EVERYTHING and ANYTHING I can to help her help the community she'll be helping in.

So when I asked her how I could (or our family could) help, she told me that she couldn't ask for any other help. I told her she didn't have to ASK, because I was offering!!! I've since found out that she is collecting her loose change to buy sacks of rice to distribute. These sacks of rice cost about $30 each and will feed over 30 families for about one week each. Food is scarce and hunger is high in this community. It broke my heart when Maurice told me that their sponsor daughter gets her lunch at school (that Maurice & Dianne's sponsor money pays for) and only eats a fraction of it to take the leftovers home to feed her hungry family. NO 7 year old should have to go hungry to feed their hungry family. This just tore me apart when I heard this.

When I told Isabelle & Noah about this, they both wanted to help (bless their little - or shall I say 'big' hearts). Using their own earnings from their allowance and Isabelle's job, they have both told me that they would like to give $1 / week for the next 6 weeks (until Dianne leaves). I was SO proud of them for OFFERING to do this without me even asking. I told them I would MATCH whatever they donated. This means, they will donate $12 from their money and I will match $12 (so I bumped it $8 more which means that our family will donate $30 in all and buy ONE sack of rice). So how much is $30?? It's our weekly snacks that we usually buy for our family movie night. This week, we'll have some homemade popcorn and some water - rather than chips, licorice, chocolate & pop.

This is where I'd like to ask for your help. Could you spare $1 this week to feed a family for 1 week? How about $2 or $5? Could you live without your Tim Horton's or Starbuck's coffee for one day to help a family eat for a week?

If you would be interested, PLEASE click the donate button on the top right corner of our blog to pay through paypal. I am also offering.....any fees related with paying through paypal will be paid by me. So 100% of your donated money will go directly to the purchase of rice.

When I told Dianne what I was going to do....she was in tears. She said she will take lots of photos while in Haiti and distributing the rice so I could post on our blog when she returns to show you just what this little donation can do for a community.

So won't you please help?

MORE....for sale.

Okay...so I'm getting lots of orders and it's kinda taken me by pleasant surprise!

Got lots of things for sale now.....

Stars & Hearts - $5 each (they measure about 7"-8" high.

Signs, signs & more signs....

6" X 12" '7 Days without Prayer' Sign - $20 each

6" X 12" 'We Believe' Sign - $20 each

6" X 12" 'If God Brings You To It' Sign - $20 each

8"x4.5" 'Believe' Sign - $15

2.5"x6", 3.5"x8" & 4.5"x10" 'Faith, Hope, Love' Sign - $25

Email me for any special order request: tara.morin473@gmail.com

First snow, way too early

We got our first snow fall (and alot of snow came down) this afternoon and tonight. Poor Jacques missed out on it (being in Toronto and all this week)!

The kids got to try out their new winter gear and make their first attempt at a perfect snowman....before Halloween (EUCK).

Though I think I may have jixed myself considering I've been listening to Christmas music all week (but don't tell anyone)!! I LOVE Christmas music - makes me happy!

Thought we'd share the love of all the snow we got!!!

Some videos for my honey (who's missing out on some great SKI-DOO weather)!!!

EARLIER IN THE EVENING - WITH NEW FENCE



BACK YARD



FRONT YARD

Mimi, Claudia and Grateful once again!

OK....so I've decided to come out of hiding now (long stories that I won't share but I'm back).

Thought I'd share some cute photos I took of Mimi, our dog last week. Not that she's getting old or sick, but I want to always remember (by documenting, writing, video & photos) how good of a dog she is.

This is HER pose.... you'll often find her sleeping like this and it's just SO darn cute.


She has such a calm (you would have never known that her first 2 years) and loving personality. She is MY dog without a doubt. Anywhere I am, she is. She is a lap dog through and through. If there is a lap in sight, she will curl up on it. BUT, if she is on someones lap and I come to sit down she comes to me (what a momma's girl).

She sleeps on our bed and we let her. I am the type of dog mom that if she is sleeping in my legs, I will move to accommodate her on our bed. Crazy as it sounds, that's just who I am.

She's a spoiled girl and we all love her to bits in our family.



Surprise, surprise....I got off my butt this year and finally got Claudia (our sponsor child from Guatemala, through World Vision) her Christmas present shipped (hopefully in time).

Not too long ago, we received our Annual Progress Report with a long letter from her and a photo. She has grown up SO much and is SO adorable. We just found out that she dreams of being a doctor when she grows up...WOW.

I hope one day to meet her and her family and give her the BIGGEST hug ever!



So life in our neck of the woods has been busy, challenging and this is why I disappeared for a while....just couldn't write what I didn't feel. And considering this blog was created for remembering all I am grateful for.....I felt a tad hypocritical by writing that I felt grateful...because I didn't.

I do again...it's a whole new me and I'm baaaa-aaaack!!!

Hope you will begin to follow our family's journey once again!

For SALE

Okay...so I've "re" found a little hobby of mine that I'm really excited about (and have decided to put on the market).

If you are interested, please email me or leave a comment and I'll send you shipping costs.

A Pair of Primitive Pumpkin

$15 a pair (CDN)

Large Primitive Pumpkin

$10 each (CDN)

Small Primitive Pumpkin

$8 each (CDN)

Email me for more details tara.morin473@hotmail.com

IMPORTANT UPDATE

Just to let you know that we've decided to go completely private with our blogging.

Will be missing you in the blogging world....look out for an invitation in the near future.

One on One with Noah

It's been so long since I had some ALONE time with my boy so last night was the night!!!


I had some running around to do (going to get Noah's glasses -though the place ended up being closed, get the car washed, buy some bleach & mops, etc) PLUS he had some money in his wallet that was burning a hole in his pocket.


I managed to turn this running around into an opportunity to spend some one on one time with my boy!


We had fun....we danced in the Walmart parking lot (the same parking lot where we had the 'SEX' talk - remember this post), we giggled, we chatted about Pokemon (where I tried so hard to understand all the 'poke-talk'!!), we browsed around EB Games, then we decided to go to Tim Horton's for a little treat.

To my LOVELY surprise, Noah insisted that he pay for my tea!! I tried to refuse - telling him it was okay, but he wouldn't let me. (that said, I ended up ordering a SMALL rather than the XL I had intended on ordering to save him about $0.80) - he'll never know!! And I treated him to a muffin and a hot chocolate. While drinking & eating our treats, we chatted (actually HE did most of the chatting and I, the listening). He talked about school, his teachers, GIRLS, friends - you name it, we chatted about it. I had SO much fun connecting with him one on one - it's been a while since we've had the opportunity.

Our fun night came to an end with an extra long cuddle in bed before we turned his lights out for the night. What a lovely evening spent with my boy!

First day of school - ups & downs

OH what a day it's been!

This morning:

Well let's just say we had a few challenges.... *end of discussion*

Once the kids left for school, I did some running around as the Treasurer of the Home & School Association for Noah's school then headed back to the school to help with the first day of school 'Welcome Back' barbecue. I got an easy job - I barbecued over 600 hot dogs (and I'm heading back tomorrow to do it all over again - but only for the Kindergartner's that only start tomorrow).

Then tonight, as I waited for Noah to arrive on the bus - I waited and I waited and I waited some more.

After a few phone calls to the school, the school contacting the bus driver (finding out that Noah was safe) and Noah arriving home over 1 hour late - I could B-R-E-A-T-H!!! NOT something I expected or ever dreamed would happen!!

Lots of changes to our bus routes and (in my opinion) poor planning in the execution of the changes. Hopefully in the next few days, things will improve (or I at least find out where Noah is supposed to be catching the bus and the time would help)!!!

Lots of events on our first day of school....

...hopefully tomorrow will go more smooth!

School is starting...YAY!

Twas the night before school starts when all through the house,
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse
The pencils are sharpened, the back packs all packed
And MOM's so excited that school's finally back!

The children a tad nervous and feeling a little blue
Now mom on the other hand, is one happy goose
And mamma in her excitement and father in his joy
The kids are a thinking, what's gotten into them - 'oh boy'.

When out on the doorstep there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.
When, what to my wondering eyes did appear
But a BIG yellow school bus to take them this year.

So off went the school bus, with the children of me
And I got to sit back and enjoy a (peaceful) hot cup of tea
With the fumes of the school bus made me feel just so right
thinking:
Happy School Year to all, and to all a Good Night!

It's getting close

So the other night we were driving in the car and Noah says:

"Mom, I KNOW now that some older kids don't think Santa is REAL"

EEESH.....in an effort to 'test the waters', my reply was like this:

M: "REALLY.....and what do you think?"
N: "Well, I KNOW he's real because the older kids say that their parents are Santa but that's SO not true. Think about it, your parents don't live near us and YOU still get presents from Santa so you see it CAN'T be your parents."
M: "That's SO true"
N: "Aaaaaand.....think about it, Grampa's parents are dead and HE still gets presents from Santa, so it MUST be Santa, right?"
M: "You got it buddy"

So the funny thing is that before this conversation (as cruel as it sounds) I was kinda hoping that he would figure it out this year, because it would make things so much less complicated (considering he's asking SO many questions and is very observant).

THEN, when this conversation happened - I panicked. I DON'T want him to figure it out....it WILL break my heart when he does. But it certainly sounds like he's trying to convince me (and himself) that Santa may not be "real" - poor guy :(

Weekend in Shippagan, NB

This weekend we WENT AWAY - again! Though this weekend was for Isabelle. She was asked to play on the Provincial Team for the final tournament, in Shippagan, NB (about 4 hours from home).....yay! Considering we did not find out that we were going until late last week, we were left with slim pickin's for accommodations in these rural *very small* communities.

Fortunately, we were able to find some cottages in Tracadie-Sheila (about 25 minutes from Shippagan) and they were BEAUTIFUL!!!

CHECK THIS OUT:

our morning view from our deck at the cottage.

W-O-W

When we arrived Friday night, the kids walked on the beach to collect shells while Jacques & I barbecued our 24hr marinated T-Bone steaks - YUMMY. Well...the shell collections were short lived when Jacques & I discovered (after supper) that NO shells were allowed to be collected from the beach - woops! So we made the kids take them back - as upset as they were!

In the morning, we noticed a car that 'slightly' missed their driveway and NOT just a bit - so I took a picture.

This was SO cool....and outdoor church. I've never seen this before - so I had to take a photo!

Unfortunately, the girls team did not overly great - 10th place out of 10 teams. THOUGH, despite their place - they did do AMAZING!!! They were the ONLY team with NO substitutes (in other words, they played 5 games straight out). When they got tired, they kept playing. When they were thirsty, they kept playing. When they got hurt, they had to keep playing. They just played their TUSHIES off.

I am SO proud of Isabelle and how hard she worked!!! Way to go!

Scary thing....when we got home, the garage door was open. We can hardly believe that the door was left open ALL weekend. The other unbelievable thing (and a perk to living in a small town where everybody knows everybody) - not ONE thing was out of place or missing (and the door to the house was open too). HOW amazing and felling rather grateful right about now.

More photos of Isabelle on Count Your Blessings (email me to add you to the viewing list).

Psalm 121

....was the scripture this past weekend at church.

Somehow (despite not knowing all the words verbatim) I can't stop reciting small parts of this passage and what this passage means to me.

Psalm 121

1 I lift up my eyes to the hills—
where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD watches over you—
the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.

The past few weeks have been....ummmm....challenging to say the least!!! And this passage is just reminding me to trust in God. Trust, that he will watch over me. Trust, that he will give me the strength and patience I need right now. Trust, that he watches over me and guides me to make the right decisions.

So as I continue to think of this passage, I am feeling like THIS is my reminder that God is the one who is really in control here and that I just have to follow his lead.

And.....this is exactly what I will do.

Mom's Disappearing Act

Was time for me to get a break....so I disappeared for a few days.

Luckily, Jacques recognized that I needed this before I did. He took charge, packed up his stuff at work on Wednesday and told me to pack my bags. He told me he was working from home Wednesday - Friday so he could deal with the kids and I could get away to regroup and recharge. He told me to go anywhere at what ever cost......

It's been a challenging summer with all the changes our family has gone through and I forgot to take care of me in all of this.....so this is exactly what this time was intended for.

Photos and the whole store can be found at Count Your Blessings (email if you wish to be added to the list of viewers).

Petting Zoo

Amy took us to a local petting zoo - and it was FREE (bonus) last week!

The guy who runs this petting zoo is a friend of Amy's (Nico's wife, who is a cousin of Jacques') and also breeds dogs. Unfortunately, he was not there so we couldn't see all the puppies :(

We had been collecting old bread (and freezing it) for months now - to feed the animals. We also had some old fruit - which the horses LOVED!