Quotes and Kid-Speak

I choose to live by choice, not by chance; to make changes, not excuses; to be motivated and not manipulated; to be useful, not used. I choose self-esteem, not self-pity; to listen to my inner voice, not the random opinions of others." - Anonymous


My daughter, Mary, posted the above quote as her status on Facebook.  I like it.  I wanted to share it.  So there it is.  It particularly fits Mary, our 6th child, 4th daughter.  She's always been a bit of a free spirit and although not a rebellious teen, she chose her own path, had fun doing it, made lots of friends and has turned into a beautiful, strong, independent young wife and mother, all the while following the words of that anonymous quotation.

Baron, Mary, Layla and Greg - 2010

When they were little, the kids used to say such cute things, quite inadvertently, that  became part of our family's peculiar and personal language.  I wish I had written them down.  Here are a few that I remember.

1.  When we had six kids, several years before Emily was born, we moved our family from Saskatchewan to Nova Scotia.  We drove the 3000 miles in a small station wagon (before seatbelts were the law), spending almost 5 days on the road.  To this day we refer to the back of a station wagon or van as "the way back".    To make things easier on us parents, and to provide a measure of safety for the kids, we instituted a buddy system to be used at all stops along the way.  3-year old Mary was assigned to be 9-year old Jenny's buddy.  Mary couldn't say "buddy" so she called Jenny her "Bunny".  That term stuck in our family for many years.  Jenny was, and still is, Mary's bunny.

Lloyd and I with the six kids the year the buddy system was begun - 1981
Rob, Mary, Mike, Sara, Jenny, Amy

2.  Here's one from the grandkids.  Charlie started pre-school when she was 4 years old.  For some reason she called it "pretty school".  Her mother, Sara, tried to correct her the first few times she said it but Charlie continued to go to "pretty school".  It wasn't long before the whole family was referring to Charlie's school as "pretty school". The next year it was her brother, Max's turn and he happily went to pretty school, just like Charlie did.  And this year Elly will be the third one in the family to attend the same pretty school. 

Sara with Charlie, Elly, baby Quinn and Max
This is a Father's Day picture for Quincey

3.  Rob used to torment the girls.  He's our firstborn, followed quickly by three little girls, a boy, and two more girls.  We had been visiting my parents  and Rob was doing his usual good-natured teasing of his little sisters.  My mother noticed this and asked him why he was tormenting the girls.  He thought for a minute and then said, very seriously, "because it's my job".  And another phrase was coined and stuck.

Sara (9), Mike (7), Rob (14), Emily ( 1 mo.), Amy (11), Mary (6), Jenny (13)  June 1986

4.  Family language is often the result of mispronunciation.  Rob used to call the 12th month of the year "DeZember".  And when he could recall something he said he could "Bemember" it. Both of those words became part of our family language.  I'm sure things like that happened in many families.

5.  Another term that was in common use by the first six kids was Bowlie Black - their name for the old swing set we had in the back yard.  Lloyd and I didn't know about this word until a few years ago but the kids all knew what it means, although they forget why it was called that.

Sara and Amy on Bowlie Black, 1979

6.  Lloyd used to give people nicknames if he liked them.  The kids were Rob the Bob, Jenn the Ben, Sara Bara or Sari, Amy Bamie, Mike the Tyke, Mar-Bear and Em the Gem.  And of course, I was Pat the Brat although I brought that name with me from my childhood.  Sara's friend Janelle got called Rosella so much that Lloyd can no longer remember her real name.  When Jenny introduced us to her soon-to-be husband, Anders, Lloyd called him Antoine.  He gradually stopped the nicknames, but the kids used to say that if Dad liked someone he gave them nicknames.

Well, that's enough.  They've all grown up to be very responsible husbands, wives and parents and no doubt their families are developing their own particular language idiosyncracies.  I just hope they're writing them down so they won't be forgotten in the mists of time and fogginess of memory.

Maybe you'll write yours down too.  I hope so.

Pat

Pizza Party

We were only in Lethbridge for 2 days this week and of course we wanted to visit with Mike's family. We only see those three grandkids 4 or 5 times a year and we want to make sure they know who we are, since they're surrounded by their 'other' family down there. It wasn't easy to do this time because of Mike and Avril's work schedule but we did manage to all gather at Mike's work for a pizza supper. The kids had put in a full day by then and this is how we were greeted by the boys:

Alex and Kenny

They stumbled into foyer and collapsed on the chairs, sound asleep before we could even say hi to them.

Taking advantage of her big brothers' inactivity, Hannah jumped right in and started eating, making a mess of herself in the process.  She's only 16 months old so that's all right.

The boys woke up in good spirits and gave each other a hug before sitting down to pizza, chicken wings and curly fries, while Mike and Avril supervised.

Then time for another group shot, hamming it up for Grammie and Papa, before we had to call it a day.

It sure is fun watching these little guys grow up and develop such strong personalities.  Love you kids.

Travelling Alberta

We just got home from Lethbridge this afternoon.  We were kind enough to take the rain down there with us.  No, don't thank me.  It was my pleasure.  Only trouble is, it followed us back home!  We did enjoy a couple of earth-shaking thunder storms down there though.
The 5-hour drive down there was lovely.  We left mid-afternoon so the light was beautiful.  We stopped an hour into the trip to visit our daughter Jenny, her husband, and five sons in Lacombe...always fun to visit all those boys. 

Anyway, here are some of the pictures I took of the beautiful scenery, starting with some of Jenny's flowers.

These are her almonds.  I didn't know they grew up here.  Apparently the nuts are forming well and will soon be ready to come out of their little furry jackets.

These lilies were perfect and the most lovely shade of orange.

This is one of their many roses - it may or may not be the one they were calling the Alexander MacKenzie rose - named after a famous exploring ancester of ours.  That's Nate's 9-year old hand holding the flower still for me.

I don't know the name of this one, but I love, love, love the color combination and the almost square shape of the blossom.

And this one Jenn said is an ancient type of rose, one of the earliest forms of rose.  She kept calling it Rosamundo but I don't know if that's actually what it's called.

It's canola time in Alberta.  Lots and lots of fields of yellow canola blossoms.  Did you know that not too many years ago the canola wasn't called canola, but rape seed.  We used to travel through a town that advertised itself as "The Rape Capital of Canada"....I never wanted to stop there.  It's so nice the plant (and it's oil) has had a name changed...have to stay politically correct dontcha know.

The patches of bright yellow are the canola fields.

The lush rolling farm land of central Alberta

Windmills have become a common sight in Alberta.  Don't know why this picture is so dark.

Here's the windmills up close - they're not really touching the ground with their arms, the towers are behind the hill there.

Canola field contrasted against the dark trees.  I took this one coming home today - the sky is more overcast and less dramatic than it was on our southbound journey.

It's good to be home again.

Pat

Saturday Musings

I have nothing specific to blog about today so I'm following the example of bloggy friend, Jo, and will just do a pictureless list. (well, maybe a picture or two if I can find one)

1.  Isn't it clever marketing or design or something when Michael's craft store is situated right next door to a big golf store.  Whenever Lloyd wants to buy a box of balls, or clubs or something, he asks me if I need anything at Michaels, knowing I'll jump at the chance to go with him.  He parks midway between the two stores, we go our separate ways, and meet back at the truck.  Clever, clever designers.  And no-guilt shopping for both of us.

2.  I went to a Cirque Soleil show last night with my son and his daughter.  Originally I was supposed to babysit with his son while his wife and he took Brooklyn to the show, but Cindy and her co-workers were given tickets and seats in the executive box for Thursday night, so Rob invited me to use her ticket with him on Friday.  The three of us had a good time - the show was lovely.  I've been to two Cirque Soleil shows in Las Vegas and fell in love with them.  This one, although on a smaller scale as a touring show, was equally as impressive as the Vegas one...and more fun that babysitting.  Thanks Rob.

3. As I sit here, it's pouring rain and windy outside my window.  The way this summer is going, for every hot sunny day, we get an equal number of rainy, cool days.  Variety is the spice of life.  I like the cool days too.

4.  The Royals have left Canada - by all reports their visit here was a huge success.   I remember when Prince Charles and Princess Diana visited Halifax when we were living there, there were huge crowds out to see them.  Unfortunately the outdoor area they were visiting was on the route I had to take from our town of Fall River to the Hospital in Halifax where I was desperately trying to take my son, Rob, doubled over in pain with a rupturing appendix.  Traffic was horrendous.  We made it though and poor Rob had his emergency surgery, followed by a 3-day fever and spent almost a week in the hospital.

5.  Mosquitoes this year are wicked - there's so much rain and standing water that I heard the larvae from 10 years ago is hatching!  How can that be?  They don't seem to like biting me (my skin is probably too tough and bitter!) but they're very annoying and all the little grandkids are covered with red itchy bumps.

6.  Don't you love the ready-made meals you can get at just about any grocery store these days?  I used to cook a lot - you can't have a family of nine without spending half your day in the kitchen, at least.  Now that it's just the two of us, I shop for ready-made quite frequently.  Tonight we're having left-over baked beans (I always make them from scratch) but to go with them I bought a small microwavable potato scallop and a ready-made chicken caesar salad.  Ice cream and store bought cookies for dessert.  Easy-peasy.

That's it for today - no pictures after all.  We're going down to Lethbridge tomorrow, where we don't have internet, so I won't blog again till Wednesday. 

Pat

Treasured Memories

I've rediscovered an old friend...much changed and altered...following a new leader...and thriving! 

When I first started scrapbooking 8 or 9 years ago there was one store in my area that I patronized.  As scrapbooking styles changed and new products were developed, more stores opened and I changed my allegiance from Treasured Memories to another one nearby.  And then I started shopping on-line instead of in the stores.


Yesterday I went back to TM...and I'm so glad I did.  There's just something inspiring and exciting about  handling the papers and seeing all the embellishments in real life. 

But that's not what impressed me most about Treasured Memories.  The father of the new owner is a photographer and antique collector - a very creative man who decorated the store for his daughter.  It's a wonderful place to visit now.



Besides all the beautiful papers and tools and embellishments and stickers and bling, interspersed among the 'working' scrapbook materials are many little surprises.

Right inside the front door there stood an old sideboard/hutch unit, the paint old and rough looking. It was filled with a variety of antiques and antiqued pieces and really set the tone of the store.

There were many different antique cameras on display.  The one shown here is exactly like my first camera, a Brownie Box Camera that took size 620 film.   Mum had used it to take baby pictures of me and my sister and gave it to me when I was a teenager.  Most of my pictures from my teens were taken on that camera - and to think it's now considered an antique!!!

Lots of creative artwork - the kind of stuff scrapbookers like to display.  Isn't this one clever.

There were more antique globes than cameras in the store - I particularly liked this 3 ft. high glass display dome filled with real globes.  It was tucked away in a corner under a display of embellishments.

Of course there was also scrapbooking products...my favorite, shown here, is bling - anything glittery or jewelled or shiny.  I love them on my pages.

This beautiful old wringer washing machine was at the front of the store just in front of the check out.  Its contents change with the seasons and specials.  I remember when I was getting my Girl Guide (Scouts) laundress badge back in 1961.  We all used this type of washer so doing the laundry was a bit more of an art and exercise than it is now.  I loved putting the clothes through the wringer.

On stumbled, literally, on this guy as I was moving down the aisle looking at the display of bling.  He was sitting right there on the floor watching me.  Not your usual scrapbook store display.

This is how the store looks as you walk into it...a wonderfully creative entrance display.

These globes, and more, floated above a display of antique cameras on top of the patterned paper shelves.

This is a closer-up shot of the antique cameras above.

...a beautifully transformed mantle clock...

...and an old Underwood Standard Typewriter.  Thank goodness they were no longer in use when I learned to type - those secretaries from the 1940s must have had very strong fingers.

Even the restroom (La Toilette the sign on the door said) had it's charm.

And it wouldn't be Canada without a moose.

I thought this was so clever.  What a gorgeous spiral staircase.

 A beautiful decorated dressmaker's form - about a foot high.

This was on the top corner of one of the large display cases - I used to collect eggs but never had one this large - with a chicken in it as well.  And another old camera.

 These Mason jars are really old and filled with equally old buttons.  Buttons are a common embellishment used by scrapbookers.  And yet another camera.  After all, what would scrapbookers do if we didn't have cameras to document our every activity.

 And, of course, the store was full of pretty papers, cardstock, chipboard and stuff.  All the antiques were just eye candy.  They sure made the store a fascinating place to visit though...even if you're not a scrapbooker.

And that was my adventure for today.

Pat

Sand Castles

I grew up, for the most part, in eastern Canada, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean and it's beaches.  Every summer we'd go to the Halifax area to visit relatives and spend time at the beach practically in their back yard - the Dingle Tower park.  When we weren't in the water, we were on the sand with pails and toy shovels building sand castles.

My poor land-locked little grandkids out here on the Prairies don't have opportunities for 'real' sand castle building, complete with incoming tides to fill moats and eventually wash away their creations.  They're missing one of the joys of my childhood summers.

The other day I had three of the grandkids for the afternoon and, as usual, they wanted to go to the lovely playground/park across the street.  When we got there, we met a young mother and her daughter who had brought pails and shovels and various dishes of assorted shapes who invited my guys to build sand castles with them.  With no ocean or lake within many many miles, this enterprising young woman took advantage of the previous night's thunderstorms and unearthed some perfectly damp sand needed for the castle shapes to hold together.  The kids had a great time.  I love having a playground whose base is beach sand, rather than recycled tires.  It's very well cared for, clean and litter free.

Do sand castles figure in your summer plans?   I'd love to go back home for a visit and to walk on the ocean beaches, but it looks like I'll have to be content this year with the sandy playground.  *sigh*

Pat

Happy Canada Day!

July 1st is  Canada Day - the day we celebrate Canada's birthday - the 144th this year.

Our family within a 100 km radius of Edmonton got together at Amy and Curtis' place for a family pot luck and fun times.  They have such a lovely big yard for the kids to play in.  There were 5 of our kids with their spouses and 15 of our 20 grandkids.  The only ones missing were Mary's family in BC and Mike's family in Southern Alberta.  And they'll all be here in August when we all get together again.

 The kids played on the trampoline...

Jonah, Brooklyn, Kenzie, Elly, Aidan, Charlie

All the little girl cousins loved chasing their big boy cousin, Jonah, around.  Here they are jumping off the trampoline after him.

Elly, Max, Brooklyn, Kenzie, Charlie

Even a 35-year old mother of four found time to show her tricks to the kids...way to go Amy!

Amy, Anson, Sydney, Brooklyn

The kids played in the bouncy castle...

Sam

and kept collapsing it and raising it up again...on purpose!

Sam and Sydney

They pretended to be prisoners to humor Grammie's photo shoot.

Max, Micah, Charlie, Jonah, Sydney, Brooklyn, Kenzie 

Amy fed them a Canada flag cupcake cake...

Charlie, Kenzie, Amy, Brooklyn, Elly, Aidan

and Sydney showed off her maple leaf tattoo - temporary, of course.

The three-year olds played in the sandbox - James, Elly and Aidan

 while some of Jenn's boys tried out the swing set...Sam and Nathan

This is Lloyd and me with the five of our kids in attendance

Rob, Pat, Sara, Amy, Lloyd, Jenny, Emily

And these are the in-laws - Curtis, Quincey, Cindy, Allan, Anders.  Can you tell which one belongs to which child of mine?

Four of my five daughters

Emily, Sara, Jenny, Amy

Me, with my oldest grandchild, Jonah, 14 and my youngest, Quinn, 11 months.

Since it doesn't get dark enough here for fireworks until after 11 pm, the party broke up at the kids bedtimes.  Some may have been able to stay up late enough to enjoy the fireworks, but not us old folks.

Happy Canada Day everyone.