Good Bye Summer

Well, it's almost over... summer of 2013 that is. I really don't think we had many nice days over all and I'm sure I wore jeans or capris and a hoodie more often than not. I'm kind of complaining here since I really like summer. June was a write off as it rained pretty much every. single. day. There was 130mm of recorded rainfall. Seriously. The garden that I attempted was pretty much washed out. Now that we are approaching September, things are slowly falling into a routine.

Joshua has begun his online school with a few days of orientation which has been a huge learning curve for both of us. I think it will be a good year for him and I.

The older girls will also start their traditional school next Tuesday after a (hopefully) relaxing weekend.

For some reason, this ended up being a really busy week and I am paying for it with Sarah's bad mood. She is whiny, clingy and tired. She has spent most of today crying off and on and is really unable to tell me what's going on.

I am thankful that before we get back to school full force, we will have a nice long weekend to spend together as a family. Even if that means games or watching a movie. I see popcorn, treats and maybe a wiener roast in our near future!

Happy Friday everyone! Have a great weekend.

Bread Making

Last week, Joshua and Andrea took a school field trip to the Ukrainian Cultural Village, east of Edmonton.  One of the activities was to make Paska bread.  Unfortunately, some kids didn't have the opportunity to try the bread and so being quite experienced in the kitchen, I told my kids that we would have our own bread making lesson at home.  I dug up my Oma's original recipe (which happened to be in my Mom's handwriting) and tried to figure out how I was going to bake bread without the luxury of my bread machine!

And so we began with the basics... how they did it in the "olden days" as my kids say.  Heated the milk on the stove, used traditional yeast, and waited the full 1.5 hours for the first rise.

{we were so excited to see the water and yeast chemistry "work", since that meant I did something right}

We moved on to the next steps of mixing the flour and letting it rise.  Delighted faces were around after the first rise.

SUCCESS!!

I kept half the dough for traditional buns and let the kids created their own.  

When I was growing up, my Oma always ensured that there were fresh buns ready to eat every time we came to visit.  Now being as Dutch as we are, there was (is) only one way to eat fresh, hot buns and that is with butter and sugar... lots of each.  As I baked today, the memories came flooding back as the sweet smell of bread filled my house.  I took a bite and was brought back to my childhood days of visiting my grandparent's house in Neerlandia.  I hope I can provide some of those same memories for my children and grandchildren in the years to come.

The Heart of My Children

So today, I decided to venture out to Costco with the four kids. Although it was quite windy, the sun was shining and I thought it would be a good day to get out for a mini field trip. As we headed toward the city, I noticed some very threatening clouds to the east but I kept going. As we got to the outskirts of the Edmonton, it started to rain. Not just a light drizzle but serious rain! Thankfully, I had an extra hoodie for Sarah in the van and Arianna had grabbed a coat on the way out but the older two and I did not. We parked and made a dash to the store. I think that taking all the kids shopping is actually easier than doing it with just the little girls during school hours. Joshua and Andrea are so helpful with unloading the cart and helping with the baby. I'm sure some disagree and I guarantee that other shoppers looked at me either with sympathy or perhaps admiration! The line up to the checkout was long. It snaked down past the food aisles, all the way to the frozen food. I really had no choice but to join the throngs of other customers. So me and my brood waited and walked towards the tills at a reasonably steady pace. As we were getting closer, we passed bunches of roses. The kids asked if they could buy me some. When I asked "with what money?", they replied with "well, yours of course." Of course. And really, at $19 for two dozen beautiful roses, who was I to say no? So, as I sit here typing, I am breathing in the unique scent that only roses have, and quite enjoying the gift that my children "bought" for me. So despite the tough homeschooling days and the challenges that I encounter with them, they are the sweetest, dearest most loving little people in my world!

It's Mother's Day...

~Shirley Van Neck~

Had I known 10 years ago that it would have been the last Mother's Day I spent with my mom, I wonder if I'd have done anything different. Knowing that in 9 weeks, she would be physically gone from me. It's been so long and I find myself forgetting more and more what she was like, what she did, how she sounded, even the scent of her perfume.

I try hard to keep her memory alive:

• a beautiful picture of her shines on a small part of my living room
• my babies all wore a simple pale green sleeper that she bought her first grandchild
• I consider yellow roses to be my favorite because they were HER favorite
• I have friends who use the same turkey dinner stuffing recipe that she did
• my first daughter has her name... Shirley
• I drink my tea the way she liked... lots of sugar and milk
• I usually make sure my babies are dressed, especially when we leave the house. She didn't think a baby should go out in pyjamas
• I cook like her, using many of the same ingredients that she did
• I do things a certain way because that's how she did them

I know that no one is perfect but my mom was. Maybe I just picture her "perfect" because my memory won't allow anything negative to be thought of her but that's ok. She didn't yell at us kids, the house was always clean because I don't remember what it was like when she had four kids all under 9 years old, supper was always on the table when my dad got home, life was organized, she was always in control. I put her on a very high pedestal. I looked up to her and when she was gone, I didn't know how I would go on. Here I was, 7 week old baby in arms and no mom to tell me what to do for diaper rash, colic, or sleepless nights. There were (and still are) things I wish I asked her about and wonder what she'd think of me now. I hope she'd tell me that I'm doing a great job of being a mom. That if the laundry isn't done right away, that's alright. That if the house is a mess when my husband comes home, that's ok too. That burnt potatos will be fine with some gravy on top. I'd like to think she's super proud of me. That she would look at her four beautiful grandchildren and say how pleased she was of them.

On Mother's Day, I try not to get too self absorbed in missing my mom. I have four kids who adore me and want to serve me and make me as happy as possible. I will receive a bouquet of yellow flowers (ok, dandilions), handmade cards, breakfast in bed and coffee. I will delight in their faces as they gift me with treasures they have found or made in school. During "Mother's Day" I will do my best to be cheerful and happy for my excited kids who want to bless me.

May you all have a Happy Mother's Day!