Paranoid or pragmatic

Grandpa (my partners dad) had a heart attack last week. . . . . . mild, as, thankfully, he is still with us. This was not his first. At the meek age of 36 he suffered his first heart attack. At 46ish he had stents put in. And now at 57 he has just undergone another operation to insert more stents.
My partner was anxious and worried, as most are when something of this magnitude happens to someone they love. Gratefully, he is home now and seems to be back to his usual self. So all the worry has ceased.
Well  . . . . . . . almost all the worry. I have made an appointment for my sweet heart to go and see his doctor. I feel a little like i am being a tad paranoid, BUT, if you have a first degree relative who had early onset heart disease (before age 50 for men) your risk of having a heart attack significantly increases.
Most of the attributing factors which you can change we have good control over for Dan. He doesn't smoke, he exercises four plus times a week, he isn't overweight, he rarely drinks alcohol and we eat reasonably well (with some more modifications being made at the current time).

So am i being overly paranoid!? . . . . . . . . . . . a visit to the doctor will surely tell.

Yes! Yes! Yes!

I am going to try my hand at a yes day tomorrow. I will endeavor to answer my children with a yes when they ask me something. . . . . . every time.

Have you ever noticed how many times you say no to your kids in the day?! Some days i feel as though that is the only word that escapes my lips.

A yes is an open door to so many things. So tomorrow i am going to let myself go and let my kids just be.

Being a great parent.

I am so terrible at this blogging business. I wanted to this to be like a kind of diary i suppose. Something that i could look back on and read to remember. But i forget, i forget to blog. I get these great ideas and moments that i want to put down, and then when i get the opportunity to get onto the computer it all seems to slip away from me. Could it be a lack of brain power from having three kids. I hope not because i still want to have two more.

Most people think that i am mad. But i love my kids, unconditionally. No other people in my life evoke so much emotion, good and bad. I want my kids to have not only me and their dad but each other as well. I want them to have strong personal relationships with each other so that there will always be someone there when they need them.

I want my family to be big and strong, as families should be (well strong at least). Ultimately i would love to be a foster parent as well, but that may have to come later. I am constantly striving to learn, practice and expand my knowledge base about good parenting. Currently i am reading a book called The 7 Habits of highly effective families (Stephen R. Cohen). I am really enjoying it and it is making sense to me so far. Really looking forward to putting some things from it into practice.

Funnily enough, one thing that i think i have learnt from all my reading is not something that has actually been written. No parent, no adult knows it all. Raising children is a constantly changing and growing activity. There will always be mistakes, but we must take these and learn from them. And we must always be willing to change, be open minded and continuously grow to be a great parent.

Carnivorous plant anyone!!

Today has been a brilliant day.

The sun is magnificent and i got a small space of time to sit with my wee Ashlee and show her the joy of just sitting and letting the sun warm you, before the boys jumped in and it turned all rowdy.

So with three kids on my bed wreaking havoc i decided to break out my camera which i had found out has a continuous shoot action on it. Oh what fun. It really brightened my day.

Then i had a very spontaneous visit from my younger brother (he never visits) and we got to chat about creating a mini eco system in my very own backyard, which is something i really wish to do. Chris knows things about plants and such and we got to discussing the fly problem. His suggestion - venus fly traps. And so the search began and i found somewhere that sells them. . . . . right here in Somerville. Wowee was i excited. Somerville of all places, and so i have worded up dad as mother's day is just around the corner.

Chris also hung out with the kids for a good bit of time, which is really fantastic since he very rarely sees them. Ashlee eyed him up for a bit first as he was looking a little unruly and he was an unfamiliar face but she got right into it when they all ventured outside and she could see the boys having such a great time.

All in all a really great day.
xx

And then their was relief

The news today . . . .  the tumour is benign and they got it all in the surgery. Massive feeling of relief as now all that needs to be done is recovery from having a surgeon cut into his head!!

Sorrow filled our home today. We found out a beautiful friend has a tumour on his brain.

Staying positive is imperitive i know, but it is a sad time when all you can do is sit and wait for news. Sit and wait to know whether all will be well, sit and wait to know whether they are coping, sit and wait to find out if there is anything that we can do to help.

Today i am sending out much love and many healing thoughts.

Happy holidays

I am loving where i am taking my life at the moment. I have been trying new things and learning new skills. I finished knitting my first piece of knitting yesterday. It was a blue scarf for my three year old Phoenix. It is not perfect but he has been showing it off with pride all day today. He is such a precious creature, so proud of his mumma.

I got to enjoy the company of some great friends this evening. We sat down to a fantastic feast and really enjoyed each others company. It felt great. All the kids were enjoying themselves too, albeit a little loudly at times. I especially loved that Tyson was here with us. He often misses some of our adventures as he loves to spend time with his dad too.

I have really enjoyed this school holidays. It has been slow paced with just the right amount of mix of spending time with friends and some family. This weekend is going to be big and i am so happy that we have Tuesday to recover and regroup before we have to get back into school. Still wishing that i could homeschool my beautiful babes. . . it may happen yet. . . but not foreseeing it in the very near future. It is so much more peaceful when we do not have to worry about hurrying out the door to get to school.

xx

Few and far between

My blog's are few and far between. I find it hard to know what to write about. I love to read other people's blog's.
Many things going on in my life at the moment. Making some big life changes, hoping that they work just the way i imagine them. It is an exciting time for my family as well as a little stressfull and intense. But loving it.

Kindness of a stranger (kindred soul)

An amazing man showed up on my door step the other night. He is a little older than i am and is confined to getting around on crutches and with an electric scooter because of an accident he was in. He is from my neighbourhood and i saw him, some time ago now, cycling up our street on a hand peddled bike and felt the need to stop him. I wanted to know where he had gotten his bike, as the small amount of research i had done had shown that they are not readily available in my area, and they cost a small fortune. He was kind enough to stop and share his story with me and give me some starting points for getting my hands on one.

With life being the way it is not much else had been done about the bike on my part, but at least i knew where to get more information. Well like i said the other night he showed up on my doorstep. He had noticed where we lived when i had come out to talk to him. He had some information and a phone number for me to call. That day he had had to take the bike that he uses (borrowed) in for repairing and while he was their he heard that there was a child or junior bike just new in and available for lending. He told the woman about my little T, took her details and a pamphlet, and then ventured around to our house to tell us about it.

To some that may seem like a fairly insignificant act. But to me, it was an amazing gesture. It meant that on that day that i had stopped him he had taken notice. Then he had taken an opportunity that he had access to and thought, not of himself, but of my T. And finally he went out of his way to pass on the informaion to my family. There are not many strangers that would or do do that. And i feel blessed to be a reciprocator of that.

So note to all, take a chance and reach out to someone. It will nearly always be well received.

'Take a chance on me'

A few nights ago, i thought i'd take a chance. Step out of my comfort zone and try something new. I wanted to know someone that i should have known for years. I should have known her but i was denyed the opportunity before i even knew it was there. That chance i took, did not pay off. I didn't get the outcome i was looking for and it left me feeling a little crushed to say the least. It isn't going to change my life - but it could have.
Following that setback i decided that it was and is time that i took a few more chances and tried some more things new. That is how i have arrived here, feeling somewhat self indulgent and a little taken aback by my bold (not to some but definately to me) actions. This is something i have been contemplating for some time but as i am not one to showcase myself have found it difficult to begin.
None the less, here i am ready to share myself with anyone who is willing to watch, wait and read. I look forward to the journey.