In a Blink of an Eye...our children grow up

Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see. ~Neil Postman, The Disappearance of Childhood (introduction), 1982

 

Mitchell and Emily, his grad date and guitar partner

In a blink of an eye our children grow up.

In a blink, the bike is still

Yesterday was my son Mitchell's last full day at home. This morning he left for Vancouver Island where he will start his post secondary education at the University of Victoria.  As I watched him drive off, all I could think of was how fast his childhood flew by.

When he was 6 years old he used to sit in the back seat of our van and ask me what it felt like to drive. I always told him to enjoy his childhood because before he knows it, he would be all grown up. And now he is.

Last night he had a few of his oldest and dearest friends over for an evening around our backyard fire pit, roasting marshmallows and eating S'mores. I was in the living room reading my latest homesteading book called, "Chicken in the Road" by Suzanne McMinn.  Every now and then I could hear a chorus of young men laughing as wood smoke would drift in through the open door. I was trying not to think about this being his last night at home.

I buried myself in my book about a middle aged woman (like me) leaving city life and moving to the country to become a farmer. She even had  three kids in tow, which made it seem suddenly more doable for me. I loved reading about her chickens, goats,  sheep and her cows. As Mitchell was starting his new life, I was thinking how much I wanted to have a new lifestyle as well. I wanted a lot of land and a place to raise his younger siblings. A few chickens would be great too.

 


I was reading the last few chapters when I heard Mitchell walking to the front yard with his friends.  I could hear them laugh and express parting heart felt words, as they said their final good byes. Mitchell came into the house, joined me in the living room and I said, "what's up?" He just shook his head and told me somberly, he didn't think it would be so hard saying goodbye to his friends. They had shared so many wonderful memories. One friend had been with him since preschool and it seemed unreal that they were about to head off in different directions.

Issac on the left has been Mitchell's longest friend

Mitchell with his best friend at their last soccer game.....kind of bittersweet

Mitchell in the middle with some of his friends on Graduation day...looking serious is a hipster thing

We talked for an hour and finally Mitchell decided to say goodnight even though it was actually 2 am in the morning. I stayed up for another 1/2 hour to finish my book (which was great btw) and when I did put my head to the pillow, I was thinking about children and chickens.

We all slept later than we planned in this morning, so when I got up, I hurriedly bathed.while D took the little kids to the kitchen to make them a quick breakfast. He was going to drive Mitchell to University so I knew he wanted to get the little ones fed so he could pack the car. We were all busy getting ready when I heard an outbreak of crying from the kitchen. Wailing from little ones, something about bowls and cereal and frustrated Dad words could be heard.

Then I heard soft footsteps on the stairs and a moment later, Victoria walked in the bathroom saying, "Mom,|" (lately she had stopped calling me mama...since she was a big girl now at age 3)..."Mom, Dad gave me Terrios instead of Harvest Trunch and it's in the wrong bowl too!" She looked at me with a huge pout on her lips and a furrowed brow. Although I wanted to laugh and pull her to me, I just said, "Tori, be thankful for what you have, or what you have will be taken from you." 

I watched her think about that for a few seconds and then she gave me a little nod and turned and headed back to the kitchen. As I finished getting ready, my words came back to haunt me. From our children, we learn our biggest lessons and I thought about what was going on in my life. I was having to say goodbye to a son who had been really difficult to parent this last year. There were times that I wanted him to leave the house because his energy was so intense and he was often difficult to live with, but here I was finally getting my wish. Be thankful for what you have, for in a blink of an eye, our children grow up and they leave.

Then I was also thinking about how much I wanted a farm and again I was thinking be thankful. We have land, and in some parts of the world my 1/3 of an acre is a farm.

Later in the morning, as I waved goodbye to Mitch with the rest of the family, I was so sad as I felt his physical presence leave our home.  Life would be so boring. There would be no daily drama,  interesting stories, constantly revolving social life, cello and guitar music, deep laughter, or even heated arguments about chores and sleeping in late.

Mitchell on the left playing his guitar at his grad banquet...I will miss him playing his cello and guitar

 I felt a wave of  grief flow through my heart as I watched the car go out of sight.

With the little Honda Fit, crammed full, Mitchell heads off to University

This was yet another letting go experience. Breathe.in, out, in, out. It's going to be okay.

Then I had what Oprah calls an "AHA" moment. Our children are like mirrors shining a reflection into our soul and what I was seeing was only an illusion. I wasn't letting him go. How can we be apart when we are connected. There is an invisible cord that connects us all on this earth. We are one. We come from the same Source and we will return to the same Source. He is not going, he is right here, as am I.

Mitchell you are Always home

I love what Dr. Wayne Dyer says about shifting perspectives,“Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change.”  

I'm choosing to see my children always with me. Hey, Mom, "wink" I think I'm getting this stuff.

All of our children at the afternoon photo session on Grad day for Mitchell, June 2014

As we turned to go back into the house, I reached for Victoria's hand and asked, if she wanted some toast and jam on her favourite plate?

 Munch a piece of toast and listen to one of my fav songs, sung by Andrea Boucelli...."Time to say good bye"....although he is singing it in the language of  LOVE.....enjoy!

(if you aren't able to see the video above, click on this link to Andrea Boucelli's Time to say Goodbye.")

Love ya, Mitchell!  

Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.

Blessings from Hope

Basil Pesto Recipe

Yum! I love basil pesto.

One basil plant growing in my garden...I have lots!

I discovered my love for pesto when my new friend Susan, whom I met while working at D.S. Gardens this past spring, brought it to our employee luncheon party. Although the picnic table was loaded with delicious and healthy food, all I wanted to eat was her pesto.

After that, I believe I was solely responsible for selling out all of the basil plants we had in stock. If I saw anyone walking around with a tomato plant, I would bring over one of our beautiful 6 pack basil plants and say, "Did you know that basil is a companion plant for tomatoes?"...and then I would offer them a free sniff. As soon as the basil was under their nose I knew I had sold another 6 pack. My motives weren't to just make money for the garden center but to ensure no one left without having what I think is THE BEST herb for their garden. Well, I do like oregano, dill, sage, parsley, ha....okay I like herbs, but Basil is at the top of the list. There were a few occasions where customers wavered  even after a whiff of the herb but all I had to say was, "do you like pesto?" and that would be it. They would smile and take my 6 pack, sometimes two packs.

Suffice it to say, I planted a lot of basil myself this spring, right in front of my tomatoes. And it wasn't long before I was making pesto several times a week. We even started putting it on our pizza instead of our classic tomato sauce. Yeah, we love pesto around here...and did you know it freezes well too?

So on the heels of my post about what to do with all the tomatoes, I have to share my basil pesto recipe. I hope you grow to love it as much as I have this spring/summer. Next year, I'm going to plant even more because I want to freeze it....it never makes it into the freezer with our family. I've been eating so much this year I won't have any to dry either. Oh, and don't you think all that green is good for our bodies! You bet...up there with Kale!  Here is my recipe and some pictures.

Here are the main ingredients,,,thanks for the garlic dear brother in law Barrie!

Hope's Basil Pesto Recipe

Ingredients

2 cups of basil
2 garlic cloves
1/4 cup of pine nuts or walnuts
1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup of parmesan cheese
(not in the picture but additional items, kosher salt, freshly ground pepper, sprinkle of lemon juice)

Directions

Put basil, garlic cloves and nuts in a food processor and pulse it until they are ground really well.

Once well processed, add the oil, slowly to the consistency that you desire. I like my pesto a bit thicker but if you are making pesto to spread on a pizza or as a pasta sauce, you may want to add a bit more olive oil to make it thinner.Taste as you go.

Add the parmesan cheese and process really well.

Finally, add a pinch of salt, some freshly ground pepper and a
squeeze of fresh lemon, mix again then you are ready to dig in.

I like to eat my pesto with Triscuit crackers (Rosemary and Olive oil is my latest fav) but our oldest daughter Alyssa likes to eat it with a spoon, a big spoon, and if caught she has a guilty smile on her face. I wish you were here now Alyse to eat my latest pesto, 'cause it was delish, but interesting note, it did go farther than usual. It lasted all of an hour today.



I hope you like my recipe and plan to double your basil plants for next year too. Enjoy! In JOY!

This is a great afternoon snack for my family...but boy does it go fast!

Until, I see you again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.

Blessings from Hope

Abundant tomatoes..what to do with them all?

Welcome to Lakelin Reach Urban Homestead. It's late August and everything is over flowing and some things, like our tomatoes are requiring daily harvesting and processing.

 

Now I'm questioning whether 16 plants was too many for our family of 10, well actually, soon to be a family of 8 living in our home now that Alyssa, our oldest is in the U.K. and Mitchell is off to University on this weekend. Did you know that 8 is a prosperity number in Chinese culture? Well I'm certainly feeling prosperous....in TOMATOES!

So this summer I'm asking myself how is the best way to process them for our family's needs in the quickest and freshest way possible.

Thank heavens the little ones love to pick them daily.

Kathryn and Victoria love to run and get their bowls when they know we are going to the garden. The tomatoes have done really well in this location as they receive ALL day sun...and although I did stake them (so I could write down the name of the tomato on the stake) I also have the pool fence behind them which allows for great circulation and I easily pick and prune them from both sides of the fence. They get eaten too by our tomato loving, pool going kids.

But after the little ones are tucked away for the night, I have a kitchen counter covered in tomatoes. 

What to do?

Well last year I got into canning them and each evening I made tomato sauce and filled my jars and was so happy at the end of summer as my laundry room shelves (yes that is where I put my preserves....hey it's close to the kitchen and looks old fashioned with my bead boarded walls etc) were full.

But you know what?....in the middle of winter when I was making my soups, stews, casseroles, spaghetti and pizza sauces, I wasn't using my canned sauce as much as digging in my deep freeze and pulling out the many bags I had stowed away when I finally got too sick of canning. Hmmm.

So this summer, with all the family stuff going on, I decided to freeze my tomatoes...but with a twist. Have you tried this with your tomato harvest? It's so easy, why isn't it done more often?

All you do is cut up your tomatoes in the size that your family likes in soups, etc and you put them in a large baking pan. Drizzle extra virgin olive oil over the tomatoes, add some garlic, basil, oregano. I was really smart this year and put a planter of my Greek type herbs, which I use the most on my front porch, it's pretty and useful. It has saved me countless steps to our garden as well. I love to just go out and snip what I need and sprinkle them freshly on whatever I'm making in the kitchen.

Oh my, just thinking of that has firmed up what we are having for dinner. Greek Salad, Chicken and lemon with dill, baby size potatoes, fresh from the garden. My oldest daughter Alyssa put us onto Greek food after spending a month in Turkey and Greece 2 years ago and now I can't get enough of that fare. I'm so glad that the weather in the Okanagan is perfect for growing peppers, cucumbers and of course lots of tomatoes!  Sorry, I got side tracked talking about herbs. Back to processing..

Okay, here is what the tomatoes looked like before I put them in the oven at 250 degrees for a hour.

 
And this is what they looked like after marinading in the oven...the smell in the house is divine!

Now normally I cool the tomatoes and then pop the whole baking tray into the freezer over night and in the morning I put the frozen tomatoes and herbs into freezer bags. For the sake of this blog, I just cooled them and put them directly into bags. I like freezing them first and then put them into bags as they separate easier when I open the bag in the middle of winter. I can just pull out what I want to use for my soups and stews. (note if you don't like the skins on you will have to remove them before you stew them in the oven...but we don't mind the skins)

The thing I love about this method is the tomatoes are already seasoned AND it's quick. I'm going to can some as well but I was so happy with the results that I wanted to share another way of processing the tomato harvest. Peaches are on my door step and suddenly I'm realizing that I want it all but I want to put it away as quickly as possible. What is your favourite way to process your tomatoes?

 

 I think in this picture to the right...even my little one Kate is wondering what we are going to do with all these tomatoes...and she and her twin sister, love to eat them whole. I have never had any of our children who cared for tomatoes as little people...unless they were on a cheese pizza. These are my veggie babies.










The picture below is a heritage tomato, called the Ox heart...I'm growing it for the first time this year. The tomato is heart shaped when you cut it and has few seeds making it a great BIG sauce tomato.

If you are new to living sustainably, growing tomatoes is the first thing I would recommend planting since you can do it in a small space, perfect for the urban farmer. And it's so rewarding at the end of summer to slice into a juicy tomato and make a sandwich, or a delicious Greek salad, ...or as my little veggie loving babies, eat it right off the vine. Nothing says summer better than a tomato. What kind do you like?



Until I see you again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.

Blessings from Hope

Say Grace

“Grace isn't a little prayer you chant before receiving a meal. It's a way to live.”

 Jackie Windspear quotes

 

This evening my day 16 meditation was titled, Radiating Grace. As Deepak spoke on the definition of Grace, I was thinking how I have experienced it deeply in my life. Our daughter, aptly named Grace was one of my greatest blessings.

Our sweet girl finally came after a long time trying to have our 5th child, and after experiencing a sad miscarriage of what I thought at the time would be our last baby. She came on the wings of surrender and gratitude. 

Before she was conceived though there was another. That baby I called my Soulbaby. We had finally gotten pregnant the month of the horrific 911 tragedy. Why, after trying to conceive for so long we should finally get pregnant that month. I don't know but despite how a shadow of darkness had descended upon the earth, our Soulbaby arrived bringing light to my life. 

She wasn't with us long. Only a breath of time. When I was 10 weeks pregnant I went in for an ultrasound only to hear words that will never leave my memory, "I'm sorry, there is no heart beat." What happened in the last few days before that ultrasound? They measured her and found that she had just passed based on her size. I chose to wait for my body to miscarry on it's own because as sad as I was, I wasn't ready to say goodbye to her. Even though she had left her body, I wasn't ready to let her little shell go. 

 

And so I waited day after day for my body to realize that it didn't have to keep sending energy to my womb but it didn't want to say goodbye either. During that time of grief I was given a deep sense of comfort, which enveloped me like a warm blanket.  As tears flowed from my heart, I was flooded with love and I knew I was experiencing grace. It was deep and powerful but light and peaceful as well. 

 

I knew I was loved and I had been given a gift. Something I had been praying months for and it had been given but with conditions. The fact that I had even been pregnant felt enough. Sometimes we have a lifetime with our children and sometimes we are not given that but even a brief time is a lifetime. It was my Soulbaby's lifetime. I knew she had given me a glimpse of eternity.

After two weeks, my Dr. wasn't prepared for the pregnancy to continue even though my body wasn't showing any signs of letting our baby leave. There was fear of infection, so I was admitted to the hospital where they induced the miscarriage with drugs.

As the first snow of the season gently drifted outside my hospital window, like angel wings falling to remind me all was well, I miscarried on November 30, 2001. It was a tough Christmas that year.

We had given our children two Siamese kittens for Christmas, and one was not thriving. I carried Samurai (our little warrior)around in my arms and fed him with a tiny baby bottle of special kitten formula. I prayed with each breath that he would start to grow but he too wasn't meant to survive. When he was 10 weeks old, our vet who we had been working with closely, told us that he had severe digestion abnormalities and we agreed to let him go peacefully. I mourned that kitten along with our Soulbaby. Still, I had a deep sense of everything happening for a reason and beneath all the grief there was this brilliant light.

 

 As winter was ebbing away, my sister C, who is a yoga teacher, asked if I would like to join her and her yoga class to attend a weekend retreat of meditation and yoga at a nearby forest Buddhist Monastery. Although, I had 4 other children to care for and I hardly ever left them, I asked my husband if I could attend. He had a sense this was what I needed to do so he agreed to hold down the fort.

 

The month of the retreat, I started meditating as I knew we would be doing seated meditation for at least 30 minutes at a stretch and I had to be in condition to sit that long. I would practice my yoga and then sit and focus on my breathing. Before settling down I would breathe slowly in and out repeating the words, " trust and let go, trust and let go, trust and let go."

 

I was planning while at the monastery, to surrender my desire for another baby. Ever since the miscarriage 4 months earlier I held onto the belief that maybe we would get pregnant again but I had to face reality. I was moving closer to 43 and our Soulbaby would be our last. I was letting go and trusting. With each meditation session I felt a greater sense of peace and  pieces of joy were finding their way into my life. I saw beauty in the smallest things and I was immensely grateful for everything in my life. The time was deeply profound.

 

The day before I was to leave though I thought it odd that I hadn't had my monthly menses. Since I still had a drawer full of home pregnancy tests from trying to conceive for so long, I casually took a test. I never in my wildest dreams thought it would show a positive. I just needed to know so I could prepare the appropriate products. As I was packing hygiene items, I picked up the home pregnancy stick and couldn't believe what was showing. Two perfect pink lines.

 

 

Is there a more beautiful sign?

 

I went out into the garden as the March sunshine was starting to bring out the first blooms and I just sank down into deep appreciation and awe. Could I be so blessed to have conceived another baby? 

All through the retreat weekend I carried a sacred secret and was over flowing with love for everything. Nothing bad could ever touch me again because I knew that even if I lost the baby I was carrying I would be okay. I just enjoyed each day I was pregnant and my mantra was a whispered, "thank you."

Our daughter was born December 5, 2002, 1 year and 1 week after I had said goodbye to our Soulbaby. A month after I turned 43. It had been a difficult birth since she was born posterior. There was a tension and hush in the labour room and I knew from given birth 4 times before that the nurses were concerned. After the birth, our nurse told me she thought for sure I would need a C section. Most babies in posterior position aren't born vaginally.

 

But she finally arrived after a long struggle, sunny side up but very blue and still..  She was whisked over to the isolette and the silence was heavy as the seconds ticked by without any sound. I prayed that I wasn't going to loose her now after going through so much but I was just so thankful for the time we had had together. It had been the most joy filled pregnancy. After what seemed like forever, the best sound broke through the quiet of the morning. A small cry was heard.

 

And so, tonight's meditation reminded me of that time and I felt like I needed to share it. Our Grace is a lovely, sweet 11 year old now and when she smiles it lights up the room. I  will never forget the one that came before and I have wondered if it was her soul coming to teach me to be grateful...and then she came back again. That belief feels right and resonates with my soul. She is my Soulbaby. My Grace.

 

Below is the written excerpt from my evenings meditation. I hope you are following along with Deepak, Oprah and I as well. This meditation series has helped to expand my happiness this month despite the fact that I could wallow in sadness over several of my children leaving the nest. But I'm not. The really cool thing about experiencing Grace once is, it never leaves you.

 

Our beautiful Grace Elizabeth

 Day 16 - Radiating Grace

“The quality of mercy is not strain'd . . . it is twice blest; It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.”
― William Shakespeare

Grace is an important aspect of expanding our happiness, because it is through grace that we express love and blessings completely and unconditionally. We are each a source and conduit of grace.
Grace is a loving power and presence that elevates and brightens whatever the challenge or situation might be. As we mature into our authentic selves, we are more open, receptive, and expansive, and so we naturally feel the influence of more grace in our lives. It is this same expansiveness and openness that makes it easy for us to radiate that grace along to others.
Radiating grace is not about adopting an attitude of sainthood, and offering benedictions to family and friends. It happens naturally, in moments as simple as passing along, or sharing, the fullness of heart that you feel when you offer a helpful gesture or kind word. When we share grace, our happiness increases many fold. <span 1.6em;"="">Today’s meditation facilitates this free flow of nature’s grace from your life to others.

Have you experienced a moment of Grace?

In deep gratitude it comes.

 

Until I see you again, may you be well, happy, grace filled and peaceful.

Blessings from Hope

Preparing Children for School...and Hope's play dough recipe

One of my fav songs....Teach Your Children by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young

(If you can't view this video above, check out this link to the song, "Teach Your Children, by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young")



One of my web board friends just wrote a post on our parenting support board regarding how scared she was as her twins were about to enter kindergarten, especially her son. Now I understand her concern as her children were born very prematurely and had they been born when they were full term, heading off to kindergarten wouldn't even be an option right now. But, I think even if your child was born full term,  moms still worry about how their children will do in school.

We spent most of the summer trying to avoid thinking about school....or at least I did.

Will and Kate having fun in our homestead's swimming hole

I absolutely cannot believe our oldest is now in the U.K. about to start her teaching career and our second child, Clark is on the homestretch of completing his Science degree.  Then there is  our third child, Mitchell about to embark on his University experience. (me holding back the tears!) Buying him school supplies yesterday was bittersweet. Well those all seems unreal enough to me, but to think that my sweet William begins kindergarten next week. When did he grow up?

 Surreal!

It feels like just yesterday I was carrying him around in a sling for his first summer on earth. Kissing his soft, sweet head and drinking in his baby smell. Next week this time we will be setting out his clothes for his first day of school. (if the teacher's strike is settled that is)

 

So I thought this would be a good time to write about the things we have been doing to prepare him for kindergarten. I have an unusual situation in that I have raised a whole generation of children and have a pretty good idea of what has worked and what didn't. Of course, times have really changed with all the present tools we parents have access to and how electronically plugged in our society is....good or bad....but if you have young child and haven't a clue how to prepare them for school, or even go about teaching your child to read, these tips may help you. Or they will reaffirm what you are already doing with your young one. Or it may heighten your thinking and you choose an alternative path that feels right for you and your child.

Now there were differing opinions on our parenting board as to how prepared a child has to be and what is really expected in the kindergarten setting because expectations are different in each school district and country. As well as what parent's expectations are for each individual child. My nephew for instance taught English in Japan to children who are constantly, I mean 24/7 on a structured educational path and he came away from that experience feeling like they were lacking some balance. (each family and community has to find what works for them) No matter where we live though and what the school system looks like, I think we parents would all agree, we want the best for our children. The "BEST" being defined differently for each of us.

We have enrolled all of our older children in preschool and I think this was an excellent way for them to learn social skills, like taking turns, sharing toys and asking for help. They needed to learn to sit and listen and follow instructions and be considerate of others and their space. I have written a post about "how full is your bucket" which deals with socially acceptable behavior but also teaching how to balance your needs so you can bring your best self to all situations.

I found that my boys only ever wanted to play at preschool though. None of them were really into painting, playing with play dough, colouring, cutting and gluing. They just wanted to play with their friends and the blocks, trucks, and the constantly rotating toys our preschool would provide. One of our sons lamented one day that they "forced" him to do a craft which I later learned was needed because they had to each have a finger puppets to participate in the story time. I think that was the only thing I ever brought home for his childhood keepsake box when he was in preschool. Suffice it to say that he has the messiest writing to this day and would have benefited from a little craft and play dough time.

I try to teach a lot of the fine motor skills at home. I make homemade play dough to build up their finger and hand muscles. Recipe is below. I also try to bring out the paints several times a week and  do something different all the time. Finger paint, cut imprints out of potatoes, or use different things to paint with...of course the old fashion brush is great too. In my kitchen, where keep my recipe books, I have a few shelves that I keep paper, colouring books, felt pens, crayons, glue sticks and scissors, so the little ones can help themselves and quietly draw or colour whenever they desire. I have turned a nearby closet in our kitchen into a craft cupboard as well which makes it handy to pull out anything for our daily activity, I keep puzzles and games in there as well. 

What I have been doing the last 2 years to assist Will with kindergarten readiness is have him work on his ABC's and numbers on almost a daily basis. With our older children I would buy age related work books and have them do a few pages every day but Will prefers the ones that I have made for him.

Will's Kindergarten Readiness books and sight words that he has learned while reading

It started by just teaching him to spell his name and repetition was the key. Then we progressed to have him work on writing his upper case A's and lower case a's and each day we would do a new letter. I also write a Big A, and a small a, on a piece of white paper and have him colour it in and then cut it out. Then he pastes it on a piece of coloured construction paper. I then Google a bunch of pictures that start with the letter A and print them off and have him cut them out, paste them on the sheet and then we sound out the words and he writes the names under the picture.


 At first he had to piggy back with me as he learned to write the letters. Once you learn one letter though it helps with others. For instance, he learned to write a C relatively easy but doing an e was harder....I taught him to write the middle line and then write a C and he got it quickly. He now has a full book of letters and pictures that he made himself and he likes to sit with his sisters and look at his homemade book.

He knows how to write all his letters now and he can say the sounds phonetically. Almost daily, while his little sisters nap, he practises writing out all his letters and his numbers too. We have used a wide range of tools to teach him his ABC;s and his numbers since he was very small and he is now what our school would call an emerging reader. He can read books with simple sentences on each page. What is really great is his little sisters, who are only 3, are also starting to read and often say the word before he has phonetically sounded it out by just looking at the clues, listening to the story, looking at the pictures and seeing the first letter in the word we are trying to say. IT'S AMAZING.

I found the children responded really well to two Leapfrog videos, in particular, Phonics Farms and Numberland. The little girls like another one called, The Letter Factory which is on You tube.....here is a clip to a few other videos that are also great.......

When Will was 31/2 we bought him a Leap pad Explorer and he loves it and takes it wherever he goes when he knows he will have to wait awhile, like his brother's ortho appt for instance. This has been a wonderful tool and between the games, the videos, reading every day to him and working on his letters and numbers, he is taking off and I hope ready for kindergarten. I do worry about the social aspect but isn't that what kindergarten is all about.

 Reminds me of when my oldest was in ballet when she was just 4 and she was so frustrated because she couldn't skip, She wanted to quit. I told her that if she could skip etc, she wouldn't need to take ballet. It's a process and teaching them to "be" gentle on themselves as they are learning anything, is part of a greater life skill. Anyway, check out You tube's many leapfrog videos for your preschoolers and I'm sure they will love it like my kids  do.

There are lots of great web sites out there to teach school readiness skills. I have our older children practise math on a web site called, IXL.com but it is amazing how vast the choices are to teach children ANYTHING nowadays. When our oldest was in early elementary we enrolled her in Kumon to hone her basic math skills. We paid something like $70.00 a month for the little worksheets and a weekly review but I was the one doing all the marking. There are so many tools to teach whatever your children need help with now and in most cases they are free. Last summer, I had my then 14 year old Harrison, work consistently on his french on a great web site ( french is our countries second language) all summer and he did extremely well in grade 9 french. A big improvement from grade 8! It's all about where you put your attention. This summer he has been working on playing his drums, shooting hoops and I have asked him to read a novel a week. I'm sure he is going to be the number 1 drummer in band, excel on the basketball team and continue to do well in English.

For Will though, I just want him to feel comfortable in kindergarten which is a big step up from three part days at preschool to 5 full days a week at the big kid school. We will keep working on his reading and writing and his math skills. Today I brought out coloured Popsicle sticks and had him make various patterns. He even got creative and started making squares of Popsicle sticks using patterns. All that time playing Lego with his older brother this summer has inspired him.

Mitchell and Will building with Lego

Children and how they learn fascinates me. I do believe  allowing our children to just play is the most effective way to learn. Just give your children something....a box of scarves, or a bowl of noodles, some paint and glue and watch them play.  It inspires me to remember to incorporate that into my life each day. There has to be a balance. While we want our children to be "successful," (whatever that means to you) I personally want them to have a happy childhood. Then they won't spend their whole adult life wondering who they are and whether they are good enough.

Here's the recipe for homemade play dough that my family makes regularly. Even the big kids like to play with it. Having little people in the house allows us to still be kids. I think Mitchell enjoyed helping Will build his Lego city this summer.  Our oldest son Clark, who works at the Science Centre while going to University, likes to bring home "flubber," dry ice, and helium balloons and watch his younger siblings marvel over the simplest things.

Maybe that is the key in helping our children get ready for the world of school..

Here's the play dough recipe.

We double it for our gang,


 


Hope's Homestead Play Dough

1 cup flour
1 cup water
1 tsp. oil....we use a vegetable oil
1 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 cup salt
2 tsp. essential oil...we like lavender

Mix all dry ingredients. Add oil and water and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until it looks like mashed potatoes. Remove from heat and add the essential oil and colouring. Divide into balls and work in the colour by kneading.

Enjoy....In joy the process of your little one......

 

Until I see you again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.

Blessings from Hope

Count Your Blessings

 

This plaque in my bathroom reminds me daily to "Count My Blessings"

For a few weeks now a blog post has been composting inside my head. It started when our 18 year old son Mitchell came home after being out really late, to tell us that there had been a little mishap with our new car. I kind of was waiting for this "first" incident. My husband D had been hovering over the car like it was a new baby and whenever one of  our driving kids asked to use it, he would grill them with questions as to where they were going, how long would they be out, was there adequate parking...etc.

It was the inquisition questions I usually pose, to make sure our children are going to be safe.  But in this case, it was to ensure the "car" would be safe. Oh, and the last thing D would say to our kids as they headed out, was, "drive safely." They would nod and say, "of course," and be off.

Now normally I'm the one to give this line, "be safe." After all it was my dad who was killed in an automobile accident when I was a child and you know it's like a well worn rut in my life, things happen in a blink of an eye and there is no going back to life as you once knew it. It's fear. Blatant fear.

This time though it was D who was fearful and of course it was for his children, but you know this time it was really about the new little car sitting in our garage. He has been more protective of this car than any of the others. True, the others were getting older when our kids started to drive them. but it's kind of funny because it's not like this was an expensive car. It's a car that we've needed to purchase for awhile now but we were hoping to buy a hybrid or an electric car. We were really wanted to make a green choice this next time.

We held on to his Dodge Durango (a gas guzzler to be sure) and my old Ford Windstar van for WELL over 10 years; longer than we have ever held onto any cars before, because,

1. The Durango was a 4 wheel drive, it was our ski car to get us up to the hill safely and it seated 7...plus you know we get a lot of snow where we live right?.

2.  Cars are expensive and we wanted to buy the greenest car we could afford for our next purchase

3. We wanted to make sure the kids that were driving, had more experience on our old cars before     we bought new ones.

So finally, last year we bought a new Honda Odessey Van (yes, not the greenest car but sadly there aren't any large family green vehicles out there...makes sense I guess) to replace my Ford but since it isn't insured for the kids to drive, there hasn't been any panic over its use.

This summer we finally bought a little economical Honda Fit. It's the sport edition so it has fancy little wheels and spoiler. D loves how peppy it is and although he is over 6 feet tall he says  it's very spacious. He also loves the gas savings.

Well that is the back story on our car situation for you but what I wanted to talk about was this little accident Mitchell experienced. He apparently was leaving his friend's place very late, well actually early in the morning, and ended up backing into his friend's car. It thankfully, wasn't damaged at all since it was like 20 years old and made of stronger stuff than our Honda but our little car was really hurt.

Mitchell said he couldn't sleep when he came home and instead dozed off and on until he heard his Dad getting up for work. He said he had to tell him what had happened before he went out and saw it for himself. Now I must give him credit for coming clean. That must have been really hard because he knew how much his Dad loved this new little car.

I wasn't happy with how angry D was over this situation. For a day he was outraged and told Mitchell that he was paying for it. Which I agree is the right thing to teach children to be more careful but I think he walked around with his jaw set tightly a bit longer than was necessary.

Okay, so  this is our pretty little car....not even 6 weeks old.

Our new little economical Fit sporty car.

 and here is the damage

I'm not going to blow it up....it isn't a pretty sight.

Now I have to give you a bit more back story on how things have been going around here. Our son Mitchell graduated this past June. Out of our three kids driving he probably is the best.

Mitchell trying on his gown a day before Grad

All summer it's been me who has been having '"issues" with Mitchell. He took Psych 12 and says that to make it easier for me to let him go off to University in September, I have been angry with him for one thing or another and it will be less traumatic say good bye if I'm mad at him. Well, it may be that, but I think it has more to do with the fact that I felt if he had time to go out with friends, into the wee hours of the morning, then  he had time to help out "more" around the house.Typical power struggle as kids grow up...they want total autonomy and we still want them to be part of the family.

Now I have to tell you that Mitchell is an AWESOME young man. This kid has been hard wired to get along socially with everyone since he was tiny. He just gets it and is really well balanced. He is an excellent student, has received scholarships to attend University, is multi-talented,  plays cello, guitar, loves all sorts of sports, is a soccer ref and is well liked at the neighbourhood grocery store where he has worked for over a year now.

I think because he is so amazing, may be part of the reason I push him so hard. I want him to rise to be his best self. So when I heard about the accident on our little car, you would think that I too would be angry, but I wasn't. My first reaction was relief that it was just the car that was damaged. Then I was really proud how he handled things with his father.  I also saw remorse for the accident and I know he was feeling so badly over the whole situation. It just broke my heart. Also, I knew how hard he was working to help with University expenses and now he would have to pay hundreds to repair the car.

To give you a glimpse into the whole picture, at the beginning of summer, one of my husband's co-worker's son was killed in an accident. He was only 15. The family had a summer cabin and their son went out early one evening to go tubing with neighbours. When he fell off his tube, the boat went back to pick him up but tragically drove over him instead. He was air lifted to a nearby hospital with life threatening injuries but he lived for less than a week, until finally his parents made the difficult decision to end life support. 

We were all reeling over the accident. Partly, because we knew his parents but mainly because it had been such a senseless accident. Also, when you live in a small town there are always so many connections. Mitchell knew the person who drove the boat. It was his boss's wife. Our whole community was affected by this young person's death and sadly it wasn't a singular affair. Several children have been killed in our community this past year due to accidents and then Alyssa, our oldest, also lost a dear friend who had CF and passed away several months after under going a lung transplant. 

So after two days of D being angry over the car incident and watching Mitchell move around the house with a glum face, I finally called D at the office and said things had to change. I asked him to come home and drive Mitchell to his afternoon shift at work. D said that it was so strange that I had just called as he had just been talking to his co worker on the phone. They had been discussing how he was processing grief and he was saying he had to try to get back to a normal routine even though things would never be normal again. D suddenly had a new perspective into our little accident.

We hadn't lost a child. He was still there to hug and for us to tell him how proud we were of him and how much we loved him. He was even there for us to be mad at and later in the summer we would have the opportunity to send him off to University. Wow!

The car is just a 'thing" which can be repaired. It will be replaced several times over Mitchell's lifetime, God willing. It was a good lesson for our son to realize how quickly an accident happens. Maybe this lesson will have prevented a bigger one, more serious from occurring. It was a good lesson for us as well to count our blessings.

So D came home that afternoon and drove Mitchell to work. He told him how he really felt. That our son was the most important person in the world to us and accidents are learning opportunities...for everyone.  

Years ago, I read a bible quote that has always stuck with me and I have incorporated it into my daily life mantras. Maybe you don't have issues with "stuff" but I think this is one of life's lessons for us to be heightened to as we go about our lives acquiring things. We work so hard on earth and for what? For me this bible quote puts this all into perspective.

Matthew 6:19-21   King James Version

¹⁹ Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
²⁰ But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
²¹ For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

King James Version (KJV)

So tomorrow before I get out of bed,  I'm going to Count My Blessings. Being grateful is truly  the core of being happy and living our best life.

What are the blessings you are counting?






 Until I see you again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.

Blessings from Hope