Category Archives: Memes/bloghops

Think Back Thurday ~ Landscapes

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If there is anything that we have an abundance of in Canada it is undisturbed landscapes. When we host students from other countries the first thing they comment on it the vast amount of space we have in Canada. As a result, some of my favorite photography moments are capturing the Canadian wild (and occasionally some of the beautiful villages nestled in the hillside). I’m linking up to Debbie’s Think Back Thursday meme as I have no shortage of landscape photos to share. I hope that you will take a moment to link up and share the beauty that can be found in your area! Here are just a few of my favorites from our time in eastern Canada.

I’ve only gone though about a fifth of my photos this morning choosing pictures, but it’s become clear that many of my landscapes are actually waterscapes. I guess that’s what you get when you live on one of the world’s most beautiful islands!

Screen Shot 2013-05-23 at 9.38.28 AMPoint Aconi, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia

Screen Shot 2013-05-23 at 9.40.50 AMVictoria Mines Lighthouse, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia

Screen Shot 2013-05-23 at 9.42.10 AMHighland Village, Iona, Cape Breton Island, Nova ScotiaScreen Shot 2013-05-23 at 9.37.11 AM

Top of Kelly’s Mountain, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia

Screen Shot 2013-05-23 at 9.43.10 AMBlue Rocks, Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia

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Prince’s Inlet Retreat, Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia (Ruadhan was born looking out over this view…though it was mid afternoon and rainy the day of his birth).

Screen Shot 2013-05-23 at 9.48.31 AMPort Morien, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia

Screen Shot 2013-05-23 at 9.46.51 AMLooking toward the site of the Swissair Flight 111 crash

Screen Shot 2013-05-23 at 9.47.22 AMThere’s an eeriness to the area and I was moved to tears. There’s really something about the place.

Screen Shot 2013-05-23 at 9.35.52 AMThe Road Less Travelled – Guysbourough County, NS

Friday’s Fave Five – March 8th, 2013

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Screen Shot 2013-03-02 at 10.06.23 AM I’m linking up with Friday’s Fave Five for the third week in a row/ Aren’t I good? I seem to have dropped my weekly update, though, but I guess this kind of counts. If you are feeling inclined to look back over your week and share some of your blessings please link up at Living to Tell the Story so that we can share in your happiness.

1. Someone sharing this recipe on pinterest today. I’ve been doing the gluten free thing and craving pizza for “Dadderday” tomorrow. This cauliflower crust looks so good that I am going to separate my frozen brocolli from my frozen cauliflower just so I can make it tomorrow. If it works our well, it just might be a Friday’s Fave Five for next week.

2. Feeling better. I don’t know if it is gluten free thing that is doing it (I tried that last summer too) or if there were toxins in the old house or if the stress from the neighbours was just too much but I feel much better. Am I 100%? Certainly not, but I am 100% functional and somewhat less swollen and sore (sort of). I think that with further dietary changes that I may be able to get to a place of full healing. It doesn’t look like a doctor will be at all easy to come by here so here’s to hoping.

3. Taking the time to paint yesterday morning. My daughter has been bugging me to use the craft supplies that I was given for my birthday (2 months ago), but I’ve been putting it off because I’m too much of a perfectionist for something as subjective as art (says the girl that took a year of fine arts because she wanted to be art therapist). It was just just to be able to paint for fun, though.

Screen Shot 2013-03-07 at 1.10.02 PM4. Finding out that a new member of the family would be joining us.…..No! Not that kind of family member, but a 10 month old boxer pup, named Penny. We’ve been contemplating a dog now that we have more space for one and I am looking forward to seeing how it goes. I’ve never had a dog that’s been mine before so there will probably be some learning, but we are looking forward to it. This sweet one is from a lovely home so I am sure that she’ll adjust well to us and will fit in with our family.

5. Children who are able to fend for themselves while I soak in the tub for about an hour every afternoon. Yeah, I’d love to sneak away for a nap – the toddler has decided that 5:30 is a fine time to get up- but that doesn’t work so well. The bath is a good compromise because I can still relax and and the littlest can come in a play in the water sometimes (or get all the way in if he is due for a bath). There’s something about a closed bedroom door that invites catastrophe after catastrophe and, knock on wood, I’ve avoided that with the bath….and oh, how I’ve missed my baths!

 

Friday’s Fave Five ~ February 22nd, 2013

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Screen Shot 2012-02-10 at 9.15.17 AM

It’s been a while since I participated in Living to Tell the Story’s Friday’s Fave Five. I tend to say that I am going to commit to it and then Fridays get busy and I forget. What?!?!?!? I forget to take 5 minutes to sit down and think of my best moments of the week. No, I don’t make the time to sit down and reflect on my week and make note of the beauty and this is a shame.

So without further ado, here are my 5 favorite things from this week:

1. Having a lovely librarian. Yes, when you are a homeschooler, librarians make the world go round. It is nice to have a librarian that will listen to your kids ramble off a dozen books he wants to order, or a librarian that will call you so that you can renew your books so you don’t have to come in. Oh, yes, having a good librarian is a must.

2. Little helpers when shoveling. There’s nothing more heartwarming than seeing my two year old’s enjoyment in the thrills of a real winter. It’s not something he has ever really experienced before because we’ve only had pseudo winters in Cape Breton these last couple of years. I took him out earlier this week when it is brutally cold with the wind and blowing snow and he said, “Aw, Mom, is it so beautifully cold. I love it out here.”

Snow photo ScreenShot2013-02-22at90109PM.png

3. Connections being made. I’ve had the opportunity to “meet” some lovely people in New Brunswick through facebook and other means this week. It is reasuring to know that there are many like minded people here. I was able to get my hands on some items that I had a hard time tracking down in Cape Breton. I am looking forward to the summer when I may be able to get out more an actually connect with people in person as there seems to be an abundance of things going on in the larger communities in the area.

4. Review items in the mail. Especially review items that scooped up the moment that they come into the house because my children are so excited over them. It was worth trekking through the deep snow today to get this one out of the mailbox. I look forward to sharing more about it in a few weeks time.

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5. Getting the phone call that my husband is coming to visit tonight instead of tomorrow. The kids will be so excited to see him in the morning and we’ll get a whole extra day to do things with him.

I hope that you all have a lovely weekend and hope that you will take the time to enjoy the little blessings that come your way.

Goal Planning Monday – Week 61

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If you are new here be sure to check out the guidelines and join in. We would love to have you! If you are returning, I hope you had a good week. Thank you for stopping in and sharing with us. Be sure to keep sharing with your friends as we all could use some accountability from time to time! I hope to see some new members this week. Keep spreading the word as we could all use some encouragement and support as we go about achieving our goals. If you have a moment get sure to hop over and see what others are doing.

You’ll never guess! We’re sick. Or we were all last week. Liam was mostly recovered by Monday evening but Tuesday morning, Mike woke up with fever, chills, aches, and a cough. Yep, the flu. The baby also had a sky high fever again (that lasted through to Friday, gave us a one day break, and came back Saturday evening) and a couple bouts of vomiting on Tuesday. With him spending several very lethargic days in my arms, I haven’t been that into meeting my goals! Mike still isn’t feeling great but the baby seems to be better this morning. I’m not even going to venture to say we are getting well because every time I say that we get something new!

Here’s my update from last week!

1. Get out and enjoy the warmth. DONE! It was 23 degrees on Thursday and I did take the kids out on the deck most of the day. We weren’t terribly active but I did some geography with Liam.

2. Design some kind of blog header. NOT DONE. Haven’t been on the actual computer all week. The iPod is my lifeline when trapped under a baby but you can’t really do work on it.

3. Try not to hound the doctor about our allergy testing (that we finally gone done).

4. Drink water. DONE!

5. Cook enough so that all the nutritious food daddy bought doesn’t go to waste.

6. Do something that makes me feel like the kids are learning something. NOT DONE! The kids threw a horrible fit at the suggestion of school work and Liam has a complete and total melt down. It’s going on what, 7 or 8 weeks, that we’ve been ill. Liam needs routine and hasn’t been getting it and I have no emotional reserves, whatsoever, to deal with melt downs so I pretty much let it be. He played some online learning games and did some math.

7. Research an online, free class of some sort. Partial done. I looked into a couple ideas on Monday but didn’t choose anything yet.

My GOAL for the week.

Do everything I can possibly think of to get my family healthy once and for all.

What are YOUR plans for the week. Be sure to stop in and let us know!

Goal Planning Monday – Week 60

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(Guess what? We are still sick. I’ll be back to post my goals later today (I hope). Feel free to link up before I’m back with my update……and I’m BACK!)

If you are new here be sure to check out the guidelines and join in. We would love to have you! If you are returning, I hope you had a good week. Thank you for stopping in and sharing with us. Be sure to keep sharing with your friends as we all could use some accountability from time to time! I hope to see some new members this week. Keep spreading the word as we could all use some encouragement and support as we go about achieving our goals. If you have a moment get sure to hop over and see what others are doing.

It’s a good thing that I never got back to post more goals last weeks because by the time the baby was on the mend out oldest boy was getting sick. He has some immune issues so he’s working hard to get rid of this bug (actually all the kids…and Mum….had to work hard at but it’s lingering for sweet Liam). I miss his little active self. The house is too darn quiet.

Here’s my update from last week!

1. Write two articles for Homeschool Horizons so that if we get hit with the crud again I’ll still have something scheduled. Partially Done. I’ve only written one. I have to come up with something else between now and tomorrow.

2. Drink water. DONE!

3. Get the biggest of the cleaning up done. DONE! The house is pretty decent. There’s always stuff to be done but I’m not overwhelmed with catch up jobs this week.

4. Get to the library. DONE! Liam desperately wanted to go so we took him out for his craft day. At that point we thought he was having an allergic reaction. *sigh*

This week’s goals:

1. Get out and enjoy the warmth. We are going to have a few nice days and I desperately need to soak up the sun so if I have to sneak out while people are resting to sit on my deck then I will do that. I hope I’ll be able to convince the kids to join me.

2. Design some kind of blog header. I was waiting for one to come but I don’t think it is. It’s spring. I need to come up with something nice and fresh. Contemplating a new blog…would you follow me? I’m not feeling Mama Manuscripts anymore…….I’m having an identity crisis. *lol*

3. Try not to hound the doctor about our allergy testing (that we finally gone done).

4. Drink water.

5. Cook enough so that all the nutritious food daddy bought doesn’t go to waste.

6. Do something that makes me feel like the kids are learning something. There’s been a whole lot of laying around and I’m beginning to feel my brain go to mush.

7. Research an online, free class of some sort. Again, this has to do with my mushy brain and maybe my identity crisis. I need to find something to do for myself, I think. I’d love suggestions.

What are YOUR plans for the week. Be sure to stop in and let us know!

Goal Planning Monday – Week 59

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(Sorry, I’m late. We ended up taking wee boy to the doctor and this slipped my mind.)

If you are new here be sure to check out the guidelines and join in. We would love to have you! If you are returning, I hope you had a good week. Thank you for stopping in and sharing with us. Be sure to keep sharing with your friends as we all could use some accountability from time to time! I hope to see some new members this week. Keep spreading the word as we could all use some encouragement and support as we go about achieving our goals. If you have a moment get sure to hop over and see what others are doing.

Well, if I though we were sick the week before last then we were VERY sick last week. It started with the baby getting the big boy’s cough and cold, that promptly went to his lungs. It made for a very lethargic baby and long, long nights as I sat upright with him. Then it was the girlie’s turn to get the same crud and it wouldn’t have been complete if Mum didn’t get sick, too. So yeah, goal acheiving wasn’t at the top of my priority list. The good news is that while we still have a cough, EVERYONE has been sick so we should be good for a while so I have hope for this week.

Here were my goals for last week:

1. Write review of Clever Dragons. DONE!

2. Write several different things for Homeschool Horizons. NOT DONE. Opps, Shannon, will you have my head?  Wednesday totally slipped my mind as we were dealing with the plague.

3. Finish quilt top and at least get it pinned to the backing. NOT DONE. I pinned two squares together. Does that count?

4. Keep posting resources on my doula page. NOT DONE. Poor neglected page. Contemplating starting a website/blog on birth, baby care, attachment parenting.

5. Go through the kids toys and simplify again. Partially done, but not really.

6. Reduce the amount of sweets I eat. DONE! But not intentionally and those fudgicles were good on the throat.

7. Drink water. Not done. There’s nothing worse than drinking plain water when you have a sore throat. I had some herbal tea but not near enough liquids. I blame being pinned under a lethargic baby for the better part of the week.

This week’s goals:

1. Write two articles for Homeschool Horizons so that if we get hit with the crud again I’ll still have something scheduled.

2. Drink water.

3. Get the biggest of the cleaning up done. The guys kept themselves fed over the week but housework is not their forte and there’s a fair amount of cleaning, dusting, sweeping, vacuuming and laundry to do.

4. Get to the library. It’s generally my main  social thing and we haven’t been in a couple weeks.

What are YOUR plans for the week. Be sure to stop in and let us know!


 

Goal Planning Monday – Week 58

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If you are new here be sure to check out the guidelines and join in. We would love to have you! If you are returning, I hope you had a good week. Thank you for stopping in and sharing with us. Be sure to keep sharing with your friends as we all could use some accountability from time to time! I hope to see some new members this week. Keep spreading the word as we could all use some encouragement and support as we go about achieving our goals. If you have a moment get sure to hop over and see what others are doing.

I didn’t have a very good week with my goals. The little girlie was sick at the beginning of the week, the big boy by midweek all the way through the weekend and the baby starting last night. Can I say that I am ready for spring as we can’t quite get rid of the bugs this winter? I did try to get some stuff done so let’s see what I actually accomplished.

1. Blog three times. NOT DONE! Not even once. I’m not 100% sure that I want to keep up with blogging.  I know that I go back and forth on it all the time and blog about really wanting to, but try as I might, I’m not really feeling it.

2. Get my quilt top sewn together. Partially Done. I’m a tiny bit over half way and would have completed it if I hadn’t run out of thread early on in the week. I expect to get it done early this week if I can get wee boy healthy.

3. Call the doctor and do whatever I need to so that I actually get the requisition in my hand. DONE! Requisition is in my possession. Blood tests to be done tomorrow morning if we can make it out of the house.

4. Up fruit and veggie intake for the whole family. DONE! For the people that ate well last week, I think we did pretty well. I cut up fruit frequently as snacks and I always added one extra veggie to meals. 

5. Finish the puzzle we are working on and put the puzzles and table away. DONE! But only completed it last night and I did not enjoy it, not one little bit. That didn’t stop me from starting another one this morning, though!

6. Dedicate time each evening after the kids go to bed to work on various homeschooling projects that are on the go. Partially Done. Didn’t happen every evening but I did try to dedicate time most mornings. I didn’t accomplish all that I set out to do but I did make decent progress.

7. Write review of Clever Dragons. NOT DONE. Hopefully early this week. I did use it with Liam quite a bit this week so I have a better idea of how it all works.

Goals for this week:

1. Write review of Clever Dragons. Yep, if nothing else I’m writing this review.

2. Write several different things for Homeschool Horizons. Have you been checking out my “Wednesday Resources” feature?

3. Finish quilt top and at least get it pinned to the backing.

4. Keep posting resources on my doula page.

5. Go through the kids toys and simplify again. Through not fault of our own they are multiplying again. I know people are well meaning but I don’t do stuff well and neither do my kids.

6. Reduce the amount of sweets I eat. We don’t have many in the house right now so that should be too hard if Mike doesn’t go out and stock up. We eat pretty healthy most of the time but we also like to indulge maybe a little too much so we have to careful about that.

7. Drink water. See, it wasn’t on my list last week and I didn’t drink enough.

 


What are YOUR plans for the week. Be sure to stop in and let us know!

 

Goal Planning Monday – Week 56

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If you are new here be sure to check out the guidelines and join in. We would love to have you! If you are returning, I hope you had a good week. Thank you for stopping in and sharing with us. Be sure to keep sharing with your friends as we all could use some accountability from time to time! I hope to see some new members this week. Keep spreading the word as we could all use some encouragement and support as we go about achieving our goals. If you have a moment get sure to hop over and see what others are doing.

Here’s my update on last week’s goals:

1. Drink that water! DONE! I did better at the end of the week than the beginning but I’d say that overall I drank that water.

2. Go to bed before my husband 3 out of 5 nights this week. DONE! I had insomnia something feirce, though.

3. As a result, finish at least the first book of Fablehaven. NOT DONE. Because  above mentioned insomnia I was tired at night. If I were to read it would have hadd to be something light and enjoyable and while Fablehaven is good it isn’t really my cup of tea (especially when sleep deprived).

4. Clear the upstairs hallway. DONE. I’ll be back with a picture soon.

5. Call and get a doctor’s appointment for myself and the three kids and followup with the blood tests as necessary. Partially done. I called and the secretary and she was going to get the requisition without me having to drag three kids in. She hasn’t so I wasn’t able to get the blood work done. I’ll call her back this morning.

6. Spend time outside with the kids three times this week. Partially done. I kicked them outside more. We went for a long walk one day and then I helped them make jumbo snowballs another but I didn’t really play with them a third time.

This week’s goals:

1. Blog three times. This should be manageable. I have the posts in my head and they are just waiting for a quiet moment to be put to paper, umm, computer.

 2. Get my quilt top sewn together. I have all the squares made and I’m quite impressed with myself. Now, on to the next step!

3. Call the doctor and do whatever I need to so that I actually get the requisition in my hand.

 4. Up fruit and veggie intake for the whole family. We aren’t quite getting as much as I would like. It’s harder when we aren’t having platters outdoors like in the summer.

 5. Finish the puzzle we are working on and put the puzzles and table away. I’m NOT enjoying out current puzzle and I’m ready to have my living room back for just a while. Puzzle burnout, I’d say.

6. Dedicate time each evening after the kids go to bed to work on various homeschooling projects that are on the go. I’ve dedicated myself to several things but don’t seem to be keeping up as well as I would have liked.

7. Write review of Clever Dragons. Liam is loving this site.

What are YOUR plans for the week. Be sure to stop in and let us know!

Goal Planning Monday ~ Week 56

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If you are new here be sure to check out the guidelines and join in. We would love to have you! If you are returning, I hope you had a good week. Thank you for stopping in and sharing with us. Be sure to keep sharing with your friends as we all could use some accountability from time to time! I hope to see some new members this week. Keep spreading the word as we could all use some encouragement and support as we go about achieving our goals. If you have a moment get sure to hop over and see what others are doing.

I think it is the first time I’ve completed all my goals for the week! Sure I only posted 5 goals, by still! I’m happy!
1. Up my water intake. DONE! This one is easy but I only do it if I put in my list, so, on my list it will stay.

2. Make carrot cake. DONE! As suspected….not to difficult.

3. Do significantly more writing EVERYWHERE! DONE! Not really quality writing, but writing, none the less.

4. Continue working on redesigning my blog. DONE! I was waiting on a header but it hasn’t arrived yet. I guess I sould check in and see if it is still coming.

5. Read Fablehaven. DONE! Not as much as I would have liked. I haven’t finished the book but I’m over half way. One of my goals this week will be to get to bed before my husband 3 out of 5 nights this week. My reading time has dropped significantly now that Mike and I are sharing a room again. I used to read ’til the wee hours but Mike needs his sleep!

This week’s goals:

1. Drink that water!

2. Go to bed before my husband 3 out of 5 nights this week.

3. As a result, finish at least the first book of Fablehaven.

4. Clear the upstairs hallway. We only have a narrow path right now (we have a homemade baby gate that’s taking up room and our things seem to multiply).

5. Call and get a doctor’s appointment for myself and the three kids and followup with the blood tests as necessary. Not my idea of fun as I tend to avoid my doctor like the plague but aw, well.

6. Spend time outside with the kids three times this week. Maybe try out some fun winter activity as we now have lots of snow.

What are YOUR plans for the week. Be sure to stop in and let us know!

Friday Fave Five ~ February 10th, 2011

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It’s time for Friday Favorites with Living to Tell the Story! What are your favorite moments of the past week? Be sure to visit and share so we can be thankful with you.

1. Sunshine coming in my window this morning. There actually feels to be some warmth in it’s intensity and I am very much looking forward to going for a walk as soon as the children are ready.

2. Making new connections on facebook. Okay, so we haven’t really connected, connected but I’ve been introduced to a couple lovely women that I hope to get to know more.

3.  My son’s Cubs’ camp went well. I was a little bit nervous about it but it seems that he had a blast so that is good! He cannot wait ’til he gos he 3 nights in the spring and nearly a week in the summer!

4. Having a little bit of creative energy. Not that I’ve created or written anything but I am feeling more inspired to do so. Maybe because the sun is shining in my window this morning.

5. Inspiration to post some of the things I’ve been wanted to say for a while. Not that I’ve written them yet but I feel them coming and hope that getting some things off my chest will free up my energy to blog the way that I want to again.