Canada Day 2015

I know I am so behind on posts, please forgive me, I'm just enjoying summer a little too much I guess!  Here is how we spent Canada Day 2015.  We headed back to a local Fun Farm.  They have free admission that day and while the crowds are definitely there, seeing Grace have so much fun is worth it!  First thing she wanted to do was go straight back to the "trampoline"  the huge jumping pillow.

 

Leave it to Grace to go straight through the puddles!



No Grace, you can't climb in with the animals!



Blues and Jazz Bound

  Continuing our love of music and dance, Grace and I attended a Blues and Jazz recently.  For me, the highlights were the music and jewellery vendors.  For Grace, it was the corn.  Yes, the corn.  Grace rediscovered how much she loves corn on the cob this weekend!  She doesn't remember it from last summer and we haven't had it all winter I guess so when I picked her up from daycare on Friday and suggested we go uptown to check out the festival and that we could get dinner there, she asked for French fries.  Sure I said but let's see what they have before we decide.  By the time we found parking and walked up the hill from the Tim Horton's I was starving and ready to eat at the first vendor we saw, which just happened to be the Corn on the Cob booth.  Grace ate that thing until it was bare and then she gnawed on it some more!!!!!
We get home, slept the night and first thing out of her mouth Saturday morning???  "Mommy can we go to the festival and get more corn on the cob?"  So we did!  Grace had corn on the cob 3 times that weekend!



Grace's idea to wear matching blue hats!  She saw them in the basement when we were putting laundry in the washing machine.  She suggested we wear them since it was the Blue Festival lol!



Lovin' that corn on the cob!!

Dancing to the Blues!

Goodbye Daisy

We've recently had a loss in our family.  My parents' dog, our beloved Daisy, had to be let go. 
She was very old, essentially blind and deaf, had been developing many health problems, including not being able to walk, and was probably in great pain.  I know it had to be done but knowing it is the right thing to do does not make it an easy thing to do.

I loved Daisy.  Before Grace came along, I would visit and take Daisy out for hikes through the back fields and swims in the pond.  She was a great dog and even though I enjoyed all of our family pets, I truly loved Daisy.

Grace loved Daisy too.  Each time we would visit Grandma and Grandpa's first thing she wanted to do (after finding Grandpa outside!lol) was feed Daisy her food.  She was only able to eat small kibble in the end and Grace would hold it out one piece at a time, feeding her by hand.  Daisy would take it willingly and seemed to enjoy this extra bit of attention.

Grace knows that Daisy is in heaven, she of course doesn't really understand what that means but for now it provides the explanation she needs.  Daisy has left both an empty spot in my heart while filling it up with good memories.

 I found the following poem online and thought I would share it here.

The Last Battle
If it be that I grow weak,
And pain should keep me from my sleep,
Then you must do what must be done,...
For this last battle cannot be won.

You will be sad, I understand;
Don't let your grief then stay your hand.
For this day more than all the rest,
Your love for me must stand the test.
We've had so many happy years -
What is to come can hold no fears.
You'd not want me to suffer so;
The time has come, so let me go.
Take me where my needs they'll tend
And please stay with me until the end.
Hold me firm and speak to me
Until my eyes no longer see.
I know in time that you will see
The kindness that you did for me.
Although my tail its last has waved,
From pain and suffering I've been saved.
Please do not grieve - it must be you
Who had this painful thing to do.
We've been so close, we two, these years -
Don't let your heart hold back its tears.

Goodbye Daisy, we'll miss you!
 

 

 

 

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Fleeting Moments

So, not the post I was intending on publishing first, I have quite a few on the go, but I don't want to forget this day because it may be the last one.  I even have a post I'm working on about this, The Last Time, but today felt special and I wanted to archive it while it was still fresh on my mind.

Grace and I have been on the go a lot lately.  We have been burning the candle at both ends for weeks now and we're both tired. On top of that, being in her late 3's, Grace is gradually saying goodbye to afternoon naps.  We are now at the point of lying down on the couch, putting on a Barney video and "resting."  She invariably falls asleep still but it is getting shorter and shorter.  So naps are precious quiet moments for both of us.

Today, Grace did her usual.  I could tell she was very tired, we had been at the park for an event with the Early Years Centre all morning.  She lied down on the couch, watching her favourite (de jour!)Barney video and I wasn't at all surprised that she fell asleep within minutes.  She slept for an hour, a great nap for her, so when she woke up crying I just came into the living room to comfort her like usual.  We chatted for a few minutes on the couch and then I asked her " Do you want Cozy Blanket to snuggle a bit more?"  Her response, yes.  So we covered up with Cozy and snuggled in on the couch.  She fell sound asleep in my arms. 

For over an hour I sat there, holding my girl.  I watched out the window as a hummingbird visited each flower in my garden, feeling the warmth of the summer sun on my legs, all while Grace caught up on some much needed sleep. 

What Grace wasn't aware of was how my heart was filling up more and more every moment we snuggled together.  Because for those of you that know us well, you probably know that sleep is just not Graces thing.  She doesn't sleep well, doesn't sleep long and doesn't like to go to sleep.  So to get an hour with her sleeping in my arms was like heaven on earth for me.  I know that she's growing up at the speed of a wild fire, and these days of sleeping in my arms are fleeting.  I couldn't tell you when the last time it happened was so like I said, this may very well have been the last time ever. 

So I cherished it.  I didn't think about the dishes in the sink, the laundry waiting to be folded or the camping supplies still sitting at the front door.  I thought about how I was spending the afternoon and I couldn't help but think how I would have spent this same afternoon four years ago.  I would probably have been doing something way more fun, way more exciting.  Maybe having lunch on a patio downtown in the city, maybe traveling somewhere with friends, reading a great book on the back deck or just puttering around in the garden.  Definitely something more exciting than sitting on the couch.  Now, almost three years in, there is nowhere I would rather be than sitting on the couch with my biggest love sleeping in my arms on a lazy summer afternoon.  True happiness.

Patience

Lots of posts are in the works and coming as soon as I get a free evening.  Hang in there folks!