spring as we see it...without fail

every year, without fail, spring looks like the pics below.  i know i post a nest picture every spring, i know i do...but really, does it ever get old??!!  :) there is always a robin's nest or two somewhere around the property where we have the joy of watching a mother tend to her nest, her pretty blue eggs and eventually her tiny, frail and needy babies...this year there were two very visible nests for us to observe.  it is always a moment of wonder as we watch those birds grow and eventually leave the nest for the big open world that awaits them.  unless, ahem, one is unfortunate enough to come in contact with the lawn mower blade as it sat undetected in the thick green grass.  poor bird.  poor mother if she was watching the "accident" unfold.  poor Jeffrey.  moving on....

 

WARNING: skip over the revolting picture below if your stomach is weak.  the basket of worms is a sign that the swimming pool is open and work has been done to get it up and running for another season of enjoyment.  less enjoyable, however, is the task of reaching in to pull out and clean the basket during the first pool vacuum of the season.  gross!!

 

"and the laundry is hung on the line with care, in hopes that the Smart Meter costs will seem more fair."  here's hoping! 

 

happy spring and summer to come!  the last month of school means we have a prom, grade eight graduation, exams, class trips, and lots of other things to anticipate this coming month!  should be a whirlwind...pictures to come!

Jays bonding

Adam and Jeffrey, taking in a Jays game. 

 

this is one of my favourite parts about evening Jays games on TV.  chilling on the couch together after a long busy day.  something so sweet about those times...

wrestling wrap-up

May 2015.  another wrestling season is wrapping up.  we attend the awards banquet this evening, in fact.  it has been fun, once again, on so many levels.  and this weekend was the perfect bookend to another great season.  a group of twenty local wrestlers and their families journeyed to Niagara Falls for the Canada East Championships....

 

 

the wrestling was intense and pretty top notch when you factor in all the best wrestlers had travelled from Ontario and provinces east of Ontario.  Hudson, Layla and Adam were in the age categories that were eligible to participate. 

 

 

beautiful venue....below, Adam facing his current nemesis...

 

they kids were fantastic~ not just in how they executed wrestling technique, but more importantly in how they dug deep, showed grit in ways that hadn't yet been seen, won with humility and lost with grace.  i love that.  the time away from the tournament was equally memorable.  seeing all the kids chatting and laughing together over meals while the parents did the same, enjoying the sights and sounds and overall craziness of Niagara Falls, taking in some of the attractions, swimming and carrying on~ it all adds up to great memories of time spent away from the usual while bonding together in the atmosphere of the unusual...a nice mini vacation.

 

 

 

not the best pic with shadows and all, but so worth capturing AJ's current "go to" smile for photos.  oh the sincerity.... :)

such beauty...how does the water keep rushing with such force?!?!  crazy awesome...

 

and can i just say, Jeff is a spectacular wrestling coach.  am i a bit biased?  of course... :) but what i love love love about him in that role is his incredibly positive approach to each and every match.  he truly gets what really matters on that mat.  he always focuses on the character development of each wrestler, and not on their win-loss ratios.  he does the same with the opponents.  the post-match handshake is always cute to watch.  Jeff will hang on the opponent's hand while speaking words of encouragement or praise~ and i'll often see the wrestler literally hanging on his every word.  he can so quickly pick out some little tidbit of "good" that he witnessed during the match and bring that up at a time that each wrestler is seeking the approval, or affirmation, or direction that is so needed after the adrenaline burst of an intense match.  love that.  it is a tough sport.  physically, mentally, emotionally.  the awesome thing is that so many of the coaches (almost all of the ones i see year after year), both locally and nationally, seem to get the importance of keeping the focus on development of the wrestler as a whole, not just their stat sheets.  quality men and women.  nice to see that.  you always hear about the ones that have lost perspective in sports and training up of children and athletes, but that has not been our experience so far.  ok, so i've gone off on a wee tangent.....

here are a few more pictures to capture our weekend. 

  

these are all cell phone pics~ not at all crisp or clear in this setting~ yet it's what we're working with at the moment, so it is what it is!

 



 

 

 

and that's another season.  sad to see it end in some ways~ but onward to baseball next! 



 

tiny boxers

two pairs of tiny, size four boxers.  hard to tell by the photo, as it lacks context.  as i was doing the children's closet/dresser season changeover and overall cleanup and re-fold (wow~ let's just say, they were messy!!) the size of these wee little plaid boxers struck me.  i actually held them up and paused.  a brief moment of reflection from the mass organization attempt that was happening.  these are little and sweet and too small for AJ now.  officially too small this 2015 spring season, and ready to be shipped out of his dresser, his room, his life!!!!!  whaaaaaaaa......... :(  my babies are growing up.  they are driving, getting jobs, travelling here and there and stepping farther away from this nest we've created here.  my littlest toddler is now a young boy, playing baseball on a real-deal team, having conversations about liquids and solids, and growing adult teeth way too soon for his little face to even seem ready for the change.   

 

thankful today for the chance to have enjoyed the moments of their smallness, learning more to embrace the changes that come with their "bigness", thankful for the seasons of being a mom...from the itty bitty delight of newborns to the taller-than-me fun of raising almost adults.  thankful for the moms who have gone before me and shown me survival strategies that shape my choices each day i'm on the job...oh yah, that's every day.  :) my dear mother and mother-in-law are constant sources of help, support, inspiration, and just visual reminders of "getting through" when i wonder how i'll ever do it all...

so, on the day i packed up these tiny boxers, i was a bit surprised to unpack my own bag of mixed emotions.  sad to see seasons end and grateful to be moving forward too.  thankful "it" happened, thankful my kids are growing into unique little people, feeling a bit resistant to change, wary of the unknown, and so it goes...

good-bye tiny plaid boxers...