A long weekend visit with my dad and brother;

a trip to see the dinosaurs;

budding geologists and avid collectors just like grandpa and great grandpa;

dinner by Dan waiting at our return;

another day of adventuring – picnic in the mountains;

macro lens, and wildflowers;

a family favourite walk through a retired coal mine;

passing snacks and knitting rows on the ride home;

take-out pizza blessing us with full stomachs and a clean kitchen;

sneaking out with five kids after dinner – four running to the park, one behind to grip my hand;

laughter, swing pushes, and surprising joy;

snuggles with a brand new darling, hugs for the new mama,

mother and daughter both full of promise and wonder;

a last supper followed by a day of goodbyes –

my brother back across the world,

my dad back across the country,

us reeling from a wonderfully full long weekend.

Family, exploration, miracle, and joy.

It was a blessed long weekend (and we took an extra day to enjoy it). 

::

May your day be touched by the wonders and miracles of life.

xoR

once again I’m doubling up with these two beautiful friends

:: joining Amanda for weekending:: 

:: giving thanks with Taryn at Wooly Moss Roots for Gratitude Sunday ::

A baby in shades and a boy playing baby;

a day of cleaning rewarded with an evening (and $16 dinner for 8) at IKEA;

fabric for curtains and the rods we’d needed for hanging them;

six in bed before collapsing with puerperium and the Doctor;

a lazy day of hung laundry, stolen moments with book, dusting, and party prep;

a bag of apples from a neighbour’s tree;

a baby shower to celebrate the upcoming birth of a dear friend’s first child;

home again to tuck the last standing child in bed;

discovering they’d spent their evening cleaning the chaos, also known as the basement;

a good morning, high hopes of further basement cleaning replaced with a much slower and welcome speed;

more laundry hung, more stolen moments, a new recipe, and yard cleanup by little helpers;

friends joining us for dinner;

and a wise (and gentle) reminder from one of those friends that summer is short and children don’t stay young for long.

This weekend was busy work, slow pace, and cherished moments.

once again I’m doubling up with these two beautiful friends

:: joining Amanda for weekending:: 

:: giving thanks with Taryn at Wooly Moss Roots for Gratitude Sunday ::

I have things to say, words to write, but they all get jumbled up in me. I feel like my shoeslaces are tied together – I only get out a few words before I fall flat.

But flat feels like where I need to be. And it may sound backwards but in this place of stillness and dependance I’m learning about peace. I’m finding strength in the weakness. Soaring in the lowness.

Light is shining in the darkest parts of me. Brought to light, I’m recognizing some surprising suspects: jealousy, resentment, pride, shame. Things I’d rather not admit to. Things I didn’t know had snuck in under cover of dark. But exposed to the light, their days are numbered. Now I know their names, they will no longer draw life from me.

Grace is finding me. Rather I am finding it here. Right here. It’s never been anywhere but here.

And this grace knows no bounds. It’s leaping clear over the “NO TRESPASSING” and “KEEP OUT” signs in my heart. Rooting out those places of pain that I’ve protected so carefully. Protected but never suspected it wasn’t protecting but releasing that they needed.

As all this light and grace increases I feel new growth in me. No green leafy yet, but roots are beginning to shoot out. Something beautiful is growing.

I am not forgotten or abandoned.

I am chosen and destined.

I give thanks again and again.

And so it happens that joy grows.

Burger‘s out after chasing a few sales (ahhhhhmazing);

Dan’s softball tournament – one game played just a stone’s throw away;

a sign made to cheer on the ball players;

no one crying when it was forgotten at home;

many meals outside;

pie, pie, and then more pie with last week’s Saskatoon berries;

finding myself alone in the house with a sleeping babe;

choosing to “take it while I can get it” rather than using my time wisely – and napping;

ice cream eaten in bathing suits, plates licked clean;

hot days followed by deliciously cool nights;

only two sunburns to soothe;

ice cold herbal tea for all;

kids on foraging trips – returning from a neighbourhood walk heavy laden with beautiful (inedible) berries, crabapples, and sour green apples;

sweet times with even sweeter friends;

and  a weekend finished off with a few pages and a few rows.

Our weekend was relaxation, sunshine, and family.

::

Wishing you a beautiful start to the week!

once again I’m doubling up with these two beautiful friends

:: joining Amanda for weekending:: 

:: giving thanks with Taryn at Wooly Moss Roots for Gratitude Sunday ::

An awesome raindrop massage from a kindred heart;

a farm visit complete with goats, hay ride, and kids plugging noses;

sweet peas still warm from the sun’s shine;

freezer stocked with pasture grazed beef;

u-pick Saskatoons, the pies they’ll become;

dinner readied by hubby at the end of it;

a wealth of good food without meat or sugar;

a quiet morning followed by a quiet afternoon;

wonderful market companions;

enough pickling cukes to keep a certain 9yo happy in dills (and me up to my elbows in them);

a trunk full of fresh delicious;

so many weekend dinners shared in good, good company;

cherry pie just right (and no one missed the sugar);

and at the end of it all lightening, thunder, and hail to draw our eyes up.

because I love both these beautiful ladies I’m doubling up today

:: joining Amanda for weekending:: 

:: giving thanks with Taryn at Wooly Moss Roots for Gratitude Sunday ::