One of my favourite things to do in the summer is sit out on the deck with Darren in the evening by the fire. Today was one of those great days! We also had lunch together, takeout Rangoli's...fabulous!!! The simple things in life are very often the best.
I also had results from my biopsy and all is well. No cancer...great news!

Fun day today! Jade and I spent some time together and went to the Chateau Laurier for tea. We dressed nice and ate some fancy food. It was a special time and a good memory maker.

While we were out Darren and Nate went to the car show and to play "Thomas" at the mall. A divide and conquer day that turned out well.

This picture makes me smile. Even though I have felt the loss of losing both of them in the past years...good memories are surfacing.

My mini surgery

Today I was lucky enough to have a biopsy done on a growth from my face. At the same time I had a cyst removed from my shoulder. I do feel lucky...as I was lying on the stretcher waiting for the surgery to begin, I looked around and saw...an incredibly clean room, two competent Doctors who were friendly, well paid and not over worked. I also saw a room with amble supplies, modern equipment and a well trained helpful nurse... Amazing to live in Canada and have this all without the worry of how we will pay for the care. I do feel blessed.

I am slow to post...but I should mention Friday because it was a fantastic day.
I had breakfast with Tammy and then a nice walk in the woods with the dogs. The weather was a little cooler than our typical summer weather, just right for a stroll in the woods.
For lunch Darren suggested we pick up Subway and take the kids to the beach for a bit of a picnic. It was windy at the beach but very nice on the walking paths. The turtles, frogs and snakes were out. The kids love to see them and I find it fascinating as well.
At 3:30pm Helen came over and Darren and I went to the Nordic Spa. We had such a good time. Very, very relaxing. Around 6:00pm we had some fantastic food and wine. The food was very fresh with lot's of healthy choices. We ate and ATE! We continued at the spa for a couple more hours and then finished the evening with truffles and port (warm milk for me). The evening was great! So nice to be out together and focus on each other. Excellent date night!

Undies!!!

One of the reasons I do this blog is to document some of the special times with the kids. It is a way to hold onto the memory. Today was a big day for our son Nathan. It was his first day of wearing underwear! This may seem to be a small thing but trust me, for parents of a two year old boy...it is a light at the end of the diaper aisle. Progress!

What motivates Nate? Thomas trains. For the last couple of days he has been asking for a new train. I told him we could purchase "Edward" when he started wearing undies and keeping them dry. Well Nate decided today was the day. I am very proud of him and he is proud of himself. He went to bed tonight with a big smile on his face feeling very proud of all he had accomplished. Well done little man! I guess I will be soon be shopping for Edward.

The above picture is of Nate on our return trip from Omega park. You can see all his precious trains made the trip as well.

Mystery in the woods.

I went for a walk today in the woods behind the house. I discovered a group of trees with the bark stripped off. The bark was freshly removed almost to the top of the trees. At first I thought it might have been kids that had removed it but then I could not figure out how they got close to the top (40 feet up?). My neighbour came with me back to the area a little later. It looks like the work of an animal but we cannot figure out what. Very strange and a little creepy. One tree had some markings on it but I am not sure if it is related to the stripping or not. Definitely not the work of a beaver because the trees have not been eaten. Any ideas?

We tried to remove the bark ourselves to see how difficult it would be but it was to hard.

Omega Park

I went to Park Omega today with my Mom, Jade, Nathan and our neighbour Niana. Here are a couple of pictures.

Gratitude check

Every once in a while we all need a good gratitude check. Today was one of those days for me. I received the following email from a friend and it did just that. I thought it is worth sharing.

A 92-year-old, small-framed, well-poised and proud man, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o'clock, with his hair fashionably coifed and shaved perfectly, even though he is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today. His wife of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary. After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, he smiled sweetly when told his room was ready. As he maneuvered his walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of his tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on his window. "I love it," he stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy. "But Mr. Jones, you haven't seen the room; just wait." "That doesn't have anything to do with it," he replied. "Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how the furniture is arranged ... it's how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it. It's a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do. Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open, I'll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I've stored away just for this time in my life. Old age is like a bank account.You withdraw from what you've put in. So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories! Thank you for your part in filling my Memory bank. I am still depositing."

I spend the day today in Merickville with Darren and Jade. Darren had a strongman competition at the fair grounds. The weather was very hot but Jade and I found a little shade. Jade spent most of her day reading book four of the Harry Potter series. It is amazing how fast she reads. She has completed book four in three days and it is 500 pages!
Big congrads to my hubby, he placed fourth in the competition. He did excellent! I am so glad Jade and I were able to go and cheer him on.

Four day weekend! Darren took Friday off work and I did the same. We had some friends over in the evening for dinner. It was a beautiful night so we were able to sit out. Nathan stayed up really late, he made it to 10:00pm. He was having fun playing with the other kids and cuddling on the couch with the girls.

Saturday we went to the Farmers market in Cumberland. Home made chocolate truffles was the highlight for me. We also took the kids to the sprinkler park and hung out in the back yard and had supper. After dinner Jade and I took Bear for a hike in the woods. We searched for some marshmallow roasting sticks and had a good talk. We came home to a camp fire and a little family time. A great night!

Sunday was a birthday party for Jade's friend Ameena. Darren, Nathan and myself joined the party around 3:30pm and had a fabulous time. Great food! Lot's of chicken curry and potatoes. Love it! We met lot's of interesting people and really enjoyed ourselves. We had to leave at 5:30pm to go to Helen and Garry's and the time came very quick. "Time flies when you are having fun!".

Monday we went down to the beach for a barbecue with some of the neighbours. The weather was nice. My friend Gaby smuggled us some wine and we sat around and had some good conversation and laughs. We got home and put the kids to bed and then the party continued over at Joy's house. The girls gathered on her deck and had a good talk. I feel very lucky to have such good neighbours!

Cottage picture of my two scientists checking out a spider web.

This morning Nate, Jade and I went down to the mall to run some errands. We stopped at a kids store and Jade got the chance to try on some fancy dresses for a family wedding that is coming up. She felt like a princess and looked beautiful. I was thrilled when we made our choice and brought one home. Not long ago purchasing a dress like that would have been an extra I could not have afforded.

Today I spend a couple of hours at CHEO with my daughter Jade. I was so impressed with the Doctor. She spend an hour with us and left no stone unturned. We also had swabs, blood tests and X-rays done. If there is a problem this Doctor will find it! Jade mentioned to me on the drive home that she was glad that she lived in a country that has a good medical system. My girl is so right. What a blessing and what an amazing thing to have such a great children's hospital in our home town. One of those things I take for granted normally but not today.

Tonight we spend the evening at the beach. Darren was training and Nate played while I kept a watchful eye. It was a fun night!