Thursday, March 29, 2018

Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday

One thing that I have learned through this Thankful Thursday journey is that gratitude needs to be practiced. I grew up with this grateful mindset in my childhood home but focusing on it each week has helped me to keep bitterness, comparison, and self-pity at bay. This week I am thankful for:

Sunday, March 25, 2018

From Phoenix to the Grand Canyon South Rim with Kids


Our seven day vacation in Phoenix, Arizona had several priorities: visit the Grand Canyon and find family-friendly hikes. We enjoyed temperatures of 20-30 Celsius in the month of March and also the cheap gas prices compared to BC. Here are the main things that we did and what I thought about them:

Visiting the Grand Canyon with Kids

Wednesday, March 21, 2018

Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday

This week we are on vacation in Arizona. It has been a fun time for our family of five to explore the area between Phoenix up to the Grand Canyon. However, if your holidays are anything like ours, it’s a whole lot of family time in tight spaces out of our normal routine which has me thinking “Are our boys always this annoying?” “Why can’t they sleep past 6 AM?” and “Why can’t our kids just sit together nicely in the back seat of the rental car? I travelled all the way across Canada with four siblings and didn’t feel the need to pester them the whole way”. Overall it has been great but it has been equally exhausting parenting-wise. So, now that I have that out of my system, I’m ready to go!

This week I am thankful for:

Friday, March 16, 2018

Preparing to Parent Teens in Today's Culture

Suddenly I find myself approaching the next stage in parenting: the teen years. I enjoy teenagers and spent five years getting a degree so that I could teach them science (biology in particular). However, there is fear which comes from the fact that I remember myself during those years. I was a hard-working student, had a part time job throughout high school and was quite responsible overall but I still had an "experimental" side to me and I didn't have to deal with the whole social media aspect that kids nowadays do.

Preteens hanging out by the river

Thursday, March 15, 2018

Thankful Thursday


On Monday I went from the high of having a beautiful sunny day and just one baby at home to the low of Gary calling me to say that Koen got sick in the van on the way home from school. After almost 12 years of this parenting thing, I am so tired of illness and being quarantined etc. We leave on holidays soon and we want to be healthy for that. I have done the puking on the plane thing way too many times (not me, my kids and Gary–on the way home from Thailand AND Disney World AND on the Carribean cruise). My spring allergies are out of this world right now even with nasal rinses and Reactine. So, now that my complaining out of this way, here we go...

This week I am thankful for:

Thursday, March 08, 2018

Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday

Last week I felt like I was stressed about life. We still don't know what to do with the "big question" (how long do we continue being a foster family) but will just take it day by day and continue to love on our Baby Girl until she leaves our home. In regards to work, I will keep subbing one day a week (hopefully more next year!). We have a trip to look forward to so that is always uplifting. The weather hasn't been terrible so that helps too. As usual I'm about to practice some gratitude, are you ready?

This week I am thankful for:

Wednesday, March 07, 2018

The Problem With Ranking Our Pain and Struggles

Empathy is the ability to understand the feelings of someone else by sharing in it – actually putting yourself in their shoes. It is very different from sympathy which is feeling sorry for someone and therefore creating disconnection. A newborn has the capacity to be empathetic but it needs to develop it through experience and being taught. Have you considered how empathetic you are?

Have you ever thought about your lack of empathy in certain situations? 


Thursday, March 01, 2018

Thankful Thursday

If you are new here, every week I reflect on ten things that I am thankful for. These are personal posts and I do appreciate everyone who takes the time to read. I hope it allows YOU some time to think on what you are thankful for. Gratitude really needs to be practiced and my parents were gifted in this area and passed it on to me.

This week I am thankful for: