Folk Fest

Mother's Day!

Best Friends at folk fest

Sharing with the babu

Annika is wired and coloring herself in the backseat, while Corrina "falls" asleep right away after our day at folk fest.

Rainbow

It's been raining alot here this spring.  It's reminding me of my childhood springs in mainland BC.  However over the last 10 years of Winnipeg life I'd say I've lost that strong, loving relationship with cloudy gray days of drizzle.    Usually we are saying the line "in like a lion, out like a lamb" to describe our winter to summer transition, but this year I've found I'm singing "April showers bring May flowers" as a mantra to remind myself of the beauty and colors that will come soon.

I noticed yesterday evening that sun was peeking out at the same time as the rain pouring down so I stepped out the front door to find a rainbow.  I couldn't see one, so I got Corrina making one instead.  It was fun.  Sometimes our weekday evenings without Dave are not fun, but for whatever reason i had energy at the end of a work day and instead of bringing on the blue's the dingy weather was fresh.

Here's a little movie for the family far and wide of the gals last night doing their thing:

lots of pictures

I take lots of pictures over the course of a week with the notion of sharing how we are spending our time.  Our kids are active (busy), creative (destructive), imaginative (chaotic!), so you can bet we have some great photos.  But, I just don't manage to get them up here, or to tell tales, or share anything.  It's all in my head, but it feels impossible to take the time to write out the little captions I create when I'm snapping a shot.  This used to be the way we kept our family and friends up to date, but according to this blog we are still stuck in Christmas land!

If you see us in person you know we are spread very thin right now.  We work opposite schedules, we both take part in raising our children at different times of the days, and we are together at home at the least helpful point in the day and apart when we could use an extra hand the most.  We are lucky to have a wonderful, flexible home day care that helps us with part time daycare, but besides that working out well everything else is just the way it is because it is.  This is exhausting!  It's life draining, it's discouraging.  We don't have an end in sight, a new beginning to look forward to, some great ideas that propel us forward.  Or at least I don't, maybe Dave does, but we don't see each other often enough to have those conversations!  Sounds bleak, eh? 

So, today, I thought if I saw some pictures of nice moments that have come and gone that some joy might be brought back into my day.  These pictures are to remind me that even though we are somewhere in the middle of nowhere, that there are moments that are still important to our family, our children, ourselves.  Even if I feel that more is wrong than right at this time, that I still have all 24 hours to make it worthwhile, to create a new story from the threads of moments that come and go whether I'm happy or not.  For, as Annie Dillard says "How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives."


I thought you might like these pictures too.

Happiness as a result of the instant valentine's day party in a box that we received from Claire.

We had already eaten our lunch when we opened the party box so we made some playdoh to celebrate and play with!

This is our basement.  We added a swing and slide to make it more fun in winter!  Corrina and me are about to do an archeological dig for dinosaur bones!

I was looking through our photos and was astonished to find that I hadn't taken any pictures at Corrina's birthday party this year!  That's how off kilter we are right now!  But, as I have been reminded through these pictures we are doing what we can with the family life we have.  Hope you've enjoyed.

Christmas 2011

For family and friends far away, thanks for all the ways you shared the holidays with us. 

Advent 2011

I wonder how we'll prepare ourselves for a winter advent celebration this year?

How will we prepare our hearts?

How will our table be welcoming to others? 

Can we offer warmth within our bows?

We strive to shine light in darkness.


We want to deepen our understanding of the gift being given.

How will we get there?

And above all, where will we be when we arrive?

A Year

Family, friends, and strangers who enjoy(ed) reading our blog, I am sorry.

The summer passed has been filled with sunshine, warm air, little girls, and household tasks, so much so that I've neglected this sharing place. 

But I'm here to share with you now. 

Our dear newborn baby Annika is now ONE! 

Here's some highlights from our celebrations for Annika, otherwise known as Banannika!

Now that Annika has been introduced to refined sugar, opening presents, and dressing like a fairy life will be grand!


Thanks everyone who blessed little Annika with your love over the course of the year.  She's a curious, active, cheeky little gal!