Jennette's post

Maybe dedicating birthday posts was a bit of a reach for me this year, well, just for the month of May I guess, anyways,  Jennette's post is in the works because Yesterday, the actual birthday, I got a nasty case of morning sickness that essentially put me out of commission for the day. I'm using today to catch up on what didn't happen yesterday, so hopefully the post will be up within the next few days.  Happy Birthday Jen xoxo!

Tuesday's Thoughts

I was over at Katharine's Blog today and thought I'd copy her idea for today's post, just to get myself writing again.

For Today...

Outside my window... 

            I can enjoy the flowers, herbs and veggies I planted in urns/ boxes on our back deck.

I am thinking...  

           I should pull out my day timer in case I'm forgetting somewhere I'm supposed to go today  ☺

I am thankful...  

           for the great visit and dinner with friends and their kids last night. mmmm homemade perogies~!

In the kitchen... 

            a plate of muffins is calling my name.

I am wearing...   

             yoga pants and a blue t-shirt, standard home school mom attire.

I am going...  

             to my midwives appointment tomorrow. I'm 21 weeks!

I am wondering... 

            when I should schedule the boys' haircuts? Buzzed for the summer!

I am reading... 

            The Well Educated Mind by Susan Wise Bauer - it's challenging but awesome!

I am hoping... 

            The dirt I ordered comes on Thursday so I can finish planting the raised veggie gardens. 

            It was supposed to arrive yesterday.

I am looking forward to...   

           Chris' cousins wedding on Saturday. I love a good wedding!

Around the house...  

           I need to get the office cleaned and organized, but I'm very afraid...  

                                                                                             maybe we'll go to the zoo today instead!

I am pondering... how to celebrate our anniversary next week - 14 years ♥

One of my favorite things...  a good cup of coffee with a great friend.

Here's one of the better shots I took from the fireworks at the Virgil Stampede on Victoria Day - Happy Summer everyone~!

Andrea

 

So today's post is tiny bit overdue. It is dedicated to my younger sister Andrea as it was her birthday last week. We'll blame it on the fact that I had the flu, then it rip-roared through the house, so though I had intended on posting it last week, I didn't. So here we go. Happy Birthday little sister!

  

Here's the sisters before the youngest showed up. In this pic Andrea was the youngest. Her tenure as the baby of the family was very short lived. I was in grade 6 when she was born, So I actually remember quite a bit of her early years first hand. (aside - Yes I have sacrificed my pride with showing this hideous picture of me in a black velvet pin-striped jumpsuit to show you how cute she was - very) She was all dimply, and happy and quiet and the easiest baby....EVER. She would rock herself happily in her playpen to music only she heard, ALL DAY, with her mouth open - not talking, just open. I barely remember her crying, always smiling and always quiet and gentle.

She's still pretty much like that...

Well, except for the rocking thing, I think.

As she got older, she got sneaky. I think that it was her quiet form of payback to my parents for having my youngest sister just months past her first birthday.  She was very good at being sneaky... and good at lying, and blaming older siblings. 

She has these huge brown eyes that you have to trust, and my parents did. But she was a liar.

Thankfully she grew out of that... I think.

After she adjusted to the presence of the youngest sibling (which didn't take much), they were fast friends. Becca made up for Andrea's lack of talking. When she finally did start talking she couldn't say my name, so she called me Mimi. Dad loved it. It stuck. She also couldn't say Jenny's name - she got Gigi, and Rebecca got Becca or for awhile I think kaka. She couldn't say her own name either, so she named herself Aya. She never had a problem with Steph's name...funny. All the nicknames have pretty much stuck too.

She was the best snuggler, and the had the best baby fat roles to pinch and tickle. They were luscious. My son Carter reminds me of toddler-her a little bit - so kissable.

She developed a maternal streak very early. She loved to take care of our pet cats and dogs. She would dress them up, and "torture" them, but they fell victim to her gentle ways and those brown eyes...

My

Andrea was and is very kind. Soft hearted and loyal. Almost to a fault, if that can be faulted.

People trust her, and they should, her heart is a vault. She's also probably the easiest to get along with of all of us girls. That's the honest truth.

Some of the things people outside of the family may not know about her are some of her favourite past times.

Probably her number one favourite is SLEEPING. If you are trying to call and there's no answer, she's probably sleeping...it doesn't matter the time. She's probably sleeping. She's impossible to wake up too. Here's a pic of her son doing the same thing. She's passed the hobby on. Apparently he even prefers sleeping over eating.

She also loves dressing up. She's very pretty, so who can blame her. It's probably all the sleep.

 

People may not realize She's goofy. We pretty much all are, it comes from my parents. 

Of all of us, Andrea is probably the most legitimately funny. She's very subtle and quiet about it, so you don't realize you are laughing hard enough to pee your pants, until you actually are. It's embarrassing, but she's that funny...sometimes.

 

I have a matching pic. of my dad in these bunny ears to illustrate, but of course, 

I can't find it right now.

She's really tall too, all of my sisters are, just not me. I'm cool with that. She could have been a model I think, look at her in her wedding gown. Need I say more?

She's a really great friend. Some of her best friends are her sisters. This is a pic of her with the youngest  of the 5 sisters. I have a matching one of them on a bed like this from about 20 years ago, but of course I also can't find that one. These three have been inseparable forever.

These are pics of Andrea with her two boys. She's a great mom. All those qualities mentioned before are her strengths, yes even the sneakiness I think, it makes her more suspicious of her boys, and successful. The only time they get away with stuff is when she's sleeping.  J

So, that's an ode to my lovely, gentle, kind, tender-hearted, beautiful sister who I love like crazy. Happy Birthday again! It's only a week and a bit late, 

but at least I got it done before Jenny's Birthday! 

♥♥♥ Mimi

What I read in April

Here's what I read in April...

I  already wrote here about my foray into these two

Rilla of Ingleside by LM Montgomery

Bonsai Conspiracy by Paul Anderson Walsh

I took a day to read  the latest Mary Higgins Clark paperback

I'll Walk Alone
    I've said it before, I like reading fiction, at least a couple books a month, it keeps my reading speed up. If I spend all my time in non-fiction, it's slow going. I liked this book, it was full of twists and turns and an unexpected ending.


Then I finished the Hunger Games Trilogy with

Mockingjay
    I'd been given mixed reviews on this from friends. Those who didn't like it, probably wanted a different "romantic" ending, but I kind of liked it. I like books that make me think even after I've finished it. This was one of those books. It made me reflect on our society today and where we're headed in North America, how similar we are to Rome, etc. Very interesting (especially on the heels of  reading Rilla of Ingleside (WWI) and the Story of the World - The Fall of Rome in our history lessons.

I read

For the Children's Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay
Which i love the refresher on the teachings of Charlotte Mason who I think was a genius, far ahead of her time.

Then I read this doozy

Also interesting following the Story of the World and the role of Babylon through history and the Bible. Lot's of intersting factoids.

I finished out the month with

I like to review this one every once and while to help me make the most of each season. This spring I'm inspired to try finally learn how to sew and to make nature notebooks with the kids. :)

It was a great month for reading!

Just arrived via UPS (eee!)