The Ultimate Egg Hunt

To end Spring Break we went on a egg hunt with Momma pig. We weren't sure where we were going. It was an adventure! 

We ended up at a park. Momma pig wanted to have fun on the park slide and forgot all about looking for an egg!

After the park Momma pig needed a break. It was a beautiful day to sit relaxing on the park bench. Momma pig was deep in thought....wondering where would an egg be hiding.  

Momma pig decided it was time to go egg hunting. No more playing at the park, there was no mud to roll in. No more relaxing on the park bench. No more contemplating where an egg would be. "It was time to find one!" During the walk Momma pig met a guitar playing rabbit. 

The guitar playing rabbit was so happy meeting Momma pig that he played several songs and wanted his picture with Momma pig. Momma pig asked the rabbit, "Can you lay an egg?" "No Momma pig but I can play Humpty Dumpty.... that song really cracks me up!"

Momma pig again was off track, the park, the bench and now dancing with a guitar playing rabbit was not helping the egg hunt. While Momma pig ventured on her way she was amazed with all the beautiful blossoms. She sat in a tree looking up enjoying the spring weather once again forgetting about the egg hunt.

Momma pig finally snapped out of her spring trance. Realizing that she became distracted again, she fell out of the tree instantly reminded that pigs can't fly. Momma pig didn't notice any eggs in the tree, nor did she find any birds nests, so she carried on her way.

She decided to look under logs at the beach, she even stayed on task enough to walk along the train tracks in hopes to find an egg. There was nothing but boulders the size of her head. She tried picking up one with no luck. 

Momma pig felt exhausted. The playground, the sight seeing, the searching, and trying to pick up heavy boulders made Momma pig very hungry and thirsty. So Momma pig went out for lunch at a near by retirement home. Momma pig enjoyed eggs with no bacon! She loved visiting and meeting some new friends.

Finally Momma pig gave up. She wasn't going to find an egg anywhere. Momma pig went to Quality Foods and purchased eggxactly what she was looking for!

Momma pig was so happy that she finally found the perfect egg for her friend. She immediately went to her friends bed with the surprise!

 Momma pig watched her friend open the bag, her friend was so happy yelling, "An egg, an egg! Thank you!" The ultimate egg hunt was a success and what a wonderful day it was! 

Happy Easter Weekend!

A true unconditional friendship

This picture above is more then just a thousand words. It's true unconditional friendship. The above picture consists of my daughter and her friend. My daughter is hugging her precious "Momma Pig" and not noticing that a picture is taking place while her friend is standing close smiling...  It is a pristine picture of a perfect unconditional friendship. We were at a retirement home visiting a lovely lady during lunch. "Our Emily is Emily" She can become impatient, she will scream at times, and she plays with her food often rather then eating. Emily is this special little girl that can get on ones nerves and especially other little girls her age. Not many eight or nine year old girls can or will understand why Emily is Emily. Nor will have the patience to continue an ongoing friendship like this friend has. This particular friend (is not just an ordinary friend) She has been involved with Emily's care for several years. She's always questioning our daughter's condition, always asking lots of questions in order to understand her friend more. Even if Emily screams at her, this little girl just comes back with a bigger hug. I am one of those individuals that observe people's characters. I'm not always right however I really believe that Emily's friend holds true unconditional compassion for others. During lunch at the retirement home I witnessed Emily's friend wipe Emily's face with a napkin. It was very sweet. I wouldn't be surprised if Emily's friend grows up and obtains a career within the human services field. True friendships can last a life time and I hope for these two it does. 

To me you are an angel in disguise.
Full of intuition, intelligent and wise.
Always giving and helping through good times and bad times.
You are the best friend I've ever had.

If I had one wish it would surely be
to give you as much you've given me

Though I've put our relationship through some cloudy days,
you've been my sunshine in so many ways.
Though trials and tests, right by me you stood,
and gave me your hand whenever you could.

Thank you so much my sister, my friend
My gratitude for you has no end...

Author unknown - found and was so suitable from Emily to her special friend.

Spring Break Photo Reflections!

Spring Break! We have been busy........Photo Reflection!

Day one.....Qualicum Cheese Works!

Little Mountain!

 Day two.....Whacky Woods in Fanny Bay!

 Tree "selfie"

 Day three.....Victoria!

 Beacon Hill Park!

 Break Water, Victoria.

 One stroller, four kids!

 Our annual Red Robin dinner!

One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that some of us tend to put off living with excuses. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today.

Experiencing life is right outside our front door!

"If we can - you can!"

More Spring Break photo reflections coming your way!  

"I want more" "What is next!?"

"I want more" Do you have that drive that you always need to be doing something more? Perhaps tackling a new adventure!? Starting a new project!? Hiking a new mountain!? I DO! I've always had that drive. Now that my first aid years are over at our local mountain, our adoption journey is over and our family is complete and continually aging. I want more. I need more then just crafts. I need more then just running or hiking around our neighborhood. I need more then homeschooling, cooking and cleaning my house. I've started writing a book while reading a series of books lol but I still want more. We are going to build a green house soon however that's not enough.....do I sound crazy!? Besides baking, endless appointments, therapists, teachers, tutors, school planning, field trips (whatever it is from day to day) I'm feeling I want or need more. I learned something in life many years ago. You need to go after what you want or you'll never have it. If you do not ask, the answer will always be no and if you do not step forward, you will always be in the same place. Actions are more then words, and with dedication anything is possible. For me, I am a mother still actively parenting twelve of our sixteen children. Four are now adults. Many people can't fathom on how we do everything. I can't express enough on how easy life works with the dedication involved daily. We can do anything and everything.... and yes, I always want something more. At this moment I'm contemplating what's next. What is next for this momma!? I love this picture below. We are never too old to venture into new possibilities. Too fly down a new path.....when I figure it out, I will let you know. In conclusion, it doesn't matter how young, or how old or who you are - a new path always awaits, you just need to take that flight forward and believe anything is possible.   

My oldest - #proudmomma

It's been almost a year since our oldest daughter moved to Vancouver. On Saturday I finally went over and seen her beautiful condo located right in the heart of the city. We spent the whole day together walking the streets, visiting all the trendy places she visits. I saw where she works, and met some of the ladies she works with. Closer to the end of the day my daughter treated me to a manicure, later my daughter's boyfriend, my daughter and I went out for oysters before I caught the ferry home. It was truly a great day. The sun was shining. There was people everywhere smiling and enjoying the last day of February. It was nice to see. My oldest daughter is my first born. She will be twenty five this year. The first to be an adult. One of the first to move successfully out on her own establishing her own place of residence. It's a rewarding transition to see as a parent. I'm very proud of her. I know that it is a very difficult transition to leave home for the very last time and start your own life. As a parent I learned to change my role, to stand back and now allow her life to proceed the way she wants to live. This has happened to all our adult children that have left home. Our roles shifted. I'm still their mother but from afar. I also noticed it's hard on the adult child to transition. It's so exciting and children can't wait to grow up, to be on their own and with their own rules....then all of a sudden when they find out it's not a bed of roses, they start missing home. They miss being a child, and they miss their parents being parents in a more controlled supportive role. I personally think teenage hood is hard however the last transition leaving home and becoming the "real adult" is indeed the hardest. What's really nice for me is spending time with not only my daughter but another sensible adult while knowing how successful she's become. Here is some pictures from our day together.

Our walk through her neighborhood was interesting. I didn't know Davies Street was rainbowed to support gay rights. Good! Below is one of the crosswalks.

Granville Island is only a five minute boat ride from my daughter's condo. We had lunch on a restaurant patio right on the ocean underneath the Granville bridge.

Vancouver is beautiful. We walked the boardwalk. Reminded me of Oahu, Hawaii. 

For the first time ever, I went to a Brewery. Most of the beer was disgusting. (ha ha)

Below is where our oldest daughter works, and the tallest high rise to the right is where she lives looking over every one.

This picture is our oldest daughter, her boyfriend and I out for dinner. Saying, "Good bye, until next time!" 

To conclude, I'm proud of her. I'm so glad that I had the opportunity to visit, and to explain how much she means to me, and that I would like to visit more often. I know a lot of my time is focused on our younger children, homeschooling and advocating. I don't ever want to loose connection to my adult children and this day was an example of hopefully more days to come. Love you both and "Thank you" for such a special day! #family #alwaysmom

Believe in yourself

I was feeling empowered this morning. I'm not sure if it's this beautiful sunny weather or if it's just because I feel 2015 has so many opportunities waiting to be opened. When I think about my past, and the puddles I jumped through to get to where I am today, I feel good. I've written this before and I keep coming back to this moment I had during a first aid practical exam. I had this full packaging on a code 3 patient I needed to do within fifteen minutes. I had to assess, stabilize and package. It was my first time having a practical exam in front of an examiner. I weeped during the whole exam. Afterwords the examiner asked me, "Carrie, why were you crying?" I explained that I failed. "I didn't package in time" The examiner pulled me aside and said, "Carrie you received 100% and you will make an excellent first aider" The reason why I keep referring to this story so vividly stored in my mind is because that moment taught me a lesson. Not to doubt yourself. If you want something badly enough, if you want changes in your life, if you want your path to veer slightly in a different direction or you just want to succeed within something new- you need to take the action, do the work and most importantly believe in yourself. I use this little personal story with every one that is struggling with themselves. I use my personal experiences to support our children. It's real. It's very empowering to know, to believe that anything is possible if you don't quit. I came across this quote this morning stating, "When something is important enough, you do it, even if the odds are not in your favor" - Elon Musk. Like climbing a mountain......every one has to start at the bottom. It doesn't matter your level of fitness, it's if you quit or not that counts. The people at the top are the ones that persevered regardless their challenges. Like adoption. The process can be very emotionally challenging. I believe it needs to be because if potential adoptive parents can't handle the process, they might not be able to handle new children either. Like First Aid. If you can't handle the practical exams. You might not be able to handle a real scenario and a life depends on it. It's important to persevere. You need that level of dedication. Commitment. Determination. It's important to have that passion. AND if you have that passion for something, you need to believe in yourself and hike towards the top and retrieve. This is an important attribute to learn to keep - believing in yourself.  This is my message for this post. For example.....our family started "Emily's Angel's" back in September 2014. Our goal was $5000.00 and honestly, I thought it was a realistic goal however a possible hard one to achieve while selling our first angels at only .30 cents each. Today we are only $400.00 shy of our goal while not only succeeding our fundraiser, we impacted many individual lives with challenges of their own. Today while awakening feeling empowered I was questioning myself, "What's next!?" Because with determination (as I well know) anything is possible. Stay tuned, a new year is about to emerge and I hope that your life is full of endless opportunities too! If not, what's stopping you? 

Dance daily, we are in control!

It was an excellent weekend.  Over a hundred of us gathered together and celebrated a friend of ours birthday on Saturday night. She turned seventy and dedicated her birthday to our daughter. It was a stroller-fundraiser. Held at a restaurant with a dance floor there was live music, plenty to eat (especially cupcakes) a raffle, a silent auction and dancing! It was a great night of family and friends. We raised $1000.00! I want to thank every one that came out and enjoyed the evening with us, celebrating a beautiful woman's birthday and supporting a strong beautiful little girl's goal to endless mobility with a all terrain jogging stroller. We are only $500.00 away from our goal and our daughter's stroller is on its way! I wrote a speech a week prior to this evening. I carried it around in my purse. With eye infections and dim lights I had a hard time staying on track speaking from my notes. At one point my friend brought a light to shine, then finally I squished it into a ball and threw it on the floor. I learned something during this moment. Even though my written words were from my heart, my heart just needed to speak without concentrating on my written planned out words. I did however feel I forgot a lot within the frazzle of the moment. Throughout our lives we meet people, sometimes they're in our lives forever, sometimes they're not. Throughout our lives sometimes what we want doesn't pan out, or maybe it does all just fall into place. From one challenge to the next, to a less rocky road, life just happens and like that moment when I threw my written speech on the floor, it was a moment when it all came together. I had a friend (a sister) stand beside me shining a light, I had friends and family that circled me, I was standing in a place full of love and support. You know, I can't appreciate people enough. No speech will express this. For Judy, "Happy Birthday" - you're an inspiring wise and compassionate woman that is full of life. I would love to learn more from you. You've raised a beautiful daughter inside and out, and that's something to dance about! I'm going to share a photo reflection of the night. I hope you enjoy the pictures! Remember, live in the moment and if anything, tomorrow is another day - that is my tip - and that is how we do it and it works!

The raffle table

The beautiful cupcake table

Emily's Angel's Birthday Cake!

The Angel table!

The dance floor!

The dinner tables

My one son, "the dancing star" and my one daughter "Emily" and I

"The two" that made the night! Emily and Judy!

Anything you want in life is achievable. However nothing comes easily. We are in control on how we perceive, what we allow in our hearts and how we deal with situations. For my daughter, she's one of the strongest little girls I know. Through all her challenges, she remains bright and beautiful. As Judy, she doesn't let anything stop her - she lives to her fullest. Cheers to two individuals that remind us daily to dance!

AND "Happy twelve birthday to one of our sons!" 

 

 This son above is pretty special. He helps without being asked all the time. He has a very kind heart, and a gentle soul. I truly believe this boy is going to grow up and make a difference in our world. One of the biggest biggest and most important teachings that I believe children should learn is compassion and acceptance for all. This little twelve year old already has it. Proud of him I am.