Teens!~

Adolescence I'm sure I'm not telling you anything you don't

know

here. With emerging new mental and physical abilities, pre-

teens and teens want to have a say in their world. They want

to influence what happens and have their opinions considered.

This desire, mixed with a lack of life experience, and a not-

yet-fully-developed frontal lobe (the part of the brain that

helps us to recognize danger and fully feel empathy for

others), especially in boys, often results in them wanting a

longer leash than parents and educators feel it is wise to

give.

WORK!

WOW

that is the best way I know how to begin!

http://nightwindcentres.com/

I started work at Nightwind Treatment Centre 2 weeks ago! I work with girls 10-14ish. I love it! First and foremost these are amazing resilient girls. The shit they have faced, the life they have endured so far is unbelievable. I am not going to believe it will all be better or believe this will change the world. But there is something magical about this place. They call it a healing centre, it is true. We have group every day. There is therapists and a cultural leader that work with them 4 times a week. They have one on one counselling and so much support.

The girls participate in Sweat lodges, drum circle, meet with Elders, smudge, have all kinds of opportunities, go on great outings, swimming, etc. They have school on site and rec halls. They learn to hold each other accountable.

It can be draining sometimes but I always feel support from the other staff. We have a great leadership and that makes for a great home.

I love it! I can't wait to get to work every day! I love my job!

When God was a Rabbit

When God was a Rabbit was our book club book this time and I found it hard to get into. Actually I did not finish it, I was reading too many books at the same time and I found this one was not grabbing me! BUT it really started getting so good and hearing the ending and the rest of the story I can't wait to finish it. It is a really good book.

Lat night we had a small group but it was wonderful! We had our wine and treats and had a great time! I love our book club and the ladies, we have such a great group! Net time we are reading The Post Birthday World, it sounds so good. I will let you know what I think! I am also reading Breaking up with God and Heaven is for Real. Quite the opposite books but I am enjoying them both.

Ringette

Tatyanah has an amazing team this year! There are so many great families on her team! I love it. The girls are nice girls and they play well together. I actually love her games and love watching them play. Tatyanah is not one to get penalties but last game she got 3. I don't know what was up with the ref but she was just checking and she got called for tripping. Honestly one time a girl skated over Taty's stick and Taty was backwards. Funny.

The girls are doing Zumba and they love it. I have a video on my phone I will post later. It is fun to watch them. They have great coaches and jr coaches. Just all around great!

Most important she is having a great time! She loves ringette! And she is reffing again so it keeps her busy! Love it!

Roxane

RoXaNe

Amanda and I have found a rare friendship, a magical kind of friendship! ROXANE! She is amazing, she is always right there with us, she helped us find every single person in our journey to getting a home from the realtor to the lawyer! She is unbelievable. We have done so much with her in the past 6 or so months and I do not know what life was like before her. She is a great friend and always beautiful! Just sayin'

Our entire families all connected right down to our dogs! Simon is in love with Takoda and he never likes anyone but he loves Simon! They snuggle in their beds. Takoda hardly tolerates Charlie!

Mason is the sweetest dolly ever, she had the perfect amount of spunk and the perfect amount of sweet! She is so funny when she glares at Amanda for her teasing. She always presents s with beautiful home made gifts that are perfect.

Adam is the best, the kid has the BEST sense of humor, he just whips stuff out like he has been planing it all day! He is an unbelievable soccer player and has the best smile.

Wade, the dad, aka husband, aka MAN is the most gentle loving kind man and loves his family with great passion and always uplifts his wife. He is kind to everyone. He is strong and smart and always willing to lend a hand or share his brilliant advise.

The whole family is some kind of wonderful! We love them all so much!

Roxane

Amanda and I have found a rare friendship, a magical kind of friendship! ROXANE! She is amazing, she is always right there with us, she helped us find every single person in our journey to getting a home from the realtor to the lawyer! She is unbelievable. We have done so much with her in the past 6 or so months and I do not know what life was like before her. She is a great friend and always beautiful! Just sayin'

Moving Day!

It is here, I can't believe it is finally here! I am so excited. I can not sleep, the house looks bare, except for a mass of boxes. Jake has only seen the outside of our house so that is super exciting for him, Tatyanah loves it but says she s not crazy excited, I think new school and ringette tryouts are part of the reasons!

Amanda and I are going stir crazy with excitement! I can not believe tomorrow we get our keys and start moving and painting! We are going to feel like we are in a mansion! because of space. I will really miss our apartment, I lived in apartments in California all the time and I love apartment living. But we need the space!

I have a few last minute packing to do, I accidentally packed all my pants and Amanda's shirts for work.....ooopps, but thats all good, we will have them in our new house in the next 2 days!

Birthday!

At my age, 21 with 19 years practice, there is not a lot I want for or need in life. I have been blessed with, to me, what is most important, LOVE. I have so many amazing friends and my family is everything I would have ever wanted.

For my birthday, Amanda put together a box of letters, from people in my life, something I will cherish forever and that was a perfect gift for me. I journal everything. I love writing, I find words to be a magical gift. What surprised me is the way so many people feel about me. The most important role I have played in life is being a mother. Everyone complimented me on being a mom. I love it. I was so blessed to see the impact I have had on people. Trust me, nothing in life goes unnoticed. Moments are marked in the souls of people and it is beautiful to know I had a part in creating some beautiful memories.

Thank you to those I have met for all your memories and experiences together, life is a magical place!

Packing!!

I swear if I never have to pack another box for the rest of my life I will be thrilled~!

We get our keys to our new house Friday and do the big move Saturday! But I have been packing for a month, but it is near the end and it is becoming very overwhelming. I just want to shove the rest in any old box and figure it out later. The problem is, I will be figuring it out later.

I am so excited to be in a bigger place, the kids will love it, the pets will love it. I am sure we will not see the cats for days as they have never had a home so big. They lives in a basement and then an apartment, now we have 4 floors to explore!

Life could not be more exciting!

Life Changes and we hang on!

Life Changes

So many great things are happening in our lives but it is different too.

I have always home schooled Jake and Tatyanah and Tim was home part way through 3rd grade. Where do I begin??

TIM

He was home and graduated early, he hated doing "work" and then one day, around 14, he decided he wanted to graduate with a diploma. He worked his butt off. He was enrolled at 15 in college and graduated with amazing marks at 16 and 13 days old! It was incredible. He was in school to become a phycologist and was going to major in Psychology and minor in Political Sciences, (proof children become who they are suppose to become, not who their parents are).. He did one term in California and one term in Canada and decided to become a Paramedic! He is excelling, he just bought a house, it is being built as we speak, and he is getting married to his amazing fiancee in November. He is happy, truly happy and fulfilled. We have an amazing beautiful relationship and I am so proud of him. He is 21~

JAKOB

He has always been home schooled and very unschooled but this past year the first term, after he decided to work on a high school diploma, he became very hard to give expectations too. He would work on assignments on his own time and often rush through what he had to do with poor results. I am of the thinking, if they want a diploma, they should get the best diploma they can. So Jake and I began to butt heads so I gave him a warning that he will be in school next term i he did not work harder. He did not work harder and we found a great solution. He started Outreach, a school that is for kids that do not do well in traditional school or are busy in sports or want a different kind of schooling. I was worried but the teachers are great, excellent, unbelievable! He continued to work at his own pace and had teachers whenever he needed them. he could go in once a week to drop of work or everyday and work with teachers. He excelled and got 72 credits so far this year. In Alberta you need 100 to graduate, Jake has all his requirements but English 30-1 and Social 20 and 30!!! He is flying along!

He is working with friends doing landscaping and working around the house for them. Everyone always comments on what a hard worker he is, what a great kid he is! We are so proud of him, he is always a great fabulous kid!
TATYANAH

Oh lordy that girl! I love her so much, she is mini me! She is full of life and love, she feels everything and speaks her mind! She is coming into her own person, she is unbelievable. I wish I was half as strong as she is in life at her age.

She has decided to go to school full time. She is a social girl. She will try out for every team, be in most clubs and love it. It is what she loved about school when she went in grade 7 for 5 months. She only came home because she felt she was missing out. She is a money saver and has 2 jobs plus babysitting. She nannies for a little guy once a week and is a dog walker. She is very careful with her money and saves like crazy! She wants a scooter to get around on so that will be interesting! She is a klutz! Oh but what joy she almost always brings~ I love being her mom and I love watching her grow, but she is not little anymore and she is becoming a young lady, it is hard!

I find this part of life so hard but exciting. The kids are amazing people, we all have fabulous relationships, but they are growing up! It is nice to not have to find sitters to go out with friends, it is great to talk to them now in their understanding and ideas. It is wonderful that they still always hug us all the time. It is also sad, my wee little babies are getting big and when they get hurt, they deal with it themselves. They do not tell me all their secrets anymore and they are separating from me. Sad but beautiful!

So life is changing but in an amazing natural beautiful way!

Reading : The Happiness Project!

I just began reading this book and it is very good! I am wondering what others think, fill me in!

Our Garden!

I did not know gardening would be so fun! It is a lot of work and very sad when things do not grow as we wished, we lost a bunch of tomatoes in the beginning due to Alberta frost, PAST MAY LONG!!! We planted a lot of seed and some decided they did not want to grow but most of it is fun! I like seeing how many things come to life and how fast they grow.

We like digging and weeding and visiting. We are a part of a community garden and it is wonderful to learn from each other and see the different gardens and what is growing. It is also interesting to see all the different ways people garden!

We have planted beans, peas, lettuce ( I accidentally weeded all but one of our lettuces), beets, carrots, cucumber, squash, kohlrabi, broccoli, cabbage, and a bunch of herbs!

Tatyanah accidently weeded our carrots and I accidently weeded our lettuce but I left one! Amanda knows better what to weed :)

MS Bike Tour: Team Eiffel of My Bike

Team Eiffel off my Bike

Sandra, Scott, Kathy, Amanda, Marci and Roxanne (missing Cathy)






185 KM of riding, through heat, rain, tears and laughter, friendships were grown and strengthened, Eiffel off my Bike prevailed. It was a hard ride for those who have never rode before and never that far.

We learned to LOVE butt butter and appreciate proper bike seats. We learned to push ourselves past what we could ever do! It was a challenge to say the least.

We raise over $12000 for the MS Society of Canada!

Day 1 start line

Sandra and Roxy

Little fun at the campground after 6 hours on the bike!

Finish line with everyone!!

Celebrating the finish!

Our team shirts....

Sadly I could not ride this year as I had pneumonia and I thought I would do ok but I was too sick and weak :( I went out to see our team and support them at the finish line on both days and it was great. They all did amazing!

Swimming

Tatyanah and Casy on the waterslide being Taty and Casy

Stacey and Russel!

Casy and Tatyanah

Taty and Casy always have so much fun together!

Me, Cydnee and Russel!

Cydnee at 2 1/2 mths old

rrrr

Broken Heart

It is often believed that death from a broken heart is no more than just the kind of occurrence we read about in books or see in movies with a tragic love story. So far, people said that no one could actually die from a broken heart, but the latest research comes to prove that wrong: too much pain and grief, as well as a very powerful emotional shock can lead to heart attack-like symptoms that may often result in death.

Research says that broken heart symptom is real and goes by the medical name of Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, as Japanese doctors first named it when they initially studied it in the ‘90s. It implies heart attack-like symptoms, including chest pains and shortness of breath, which can be triggered by an emotional shock, such as the one following news of an accident, illness in the family or a very violent argument. Expert believe that because of the release of a high amount of stress hormones, such as adrenaline, a part of the heart can be weakened and become “stunned”.

Even if researchers are still not able to pinpoint the exact causes, or mechanisms of the broken heart symptom, they are positive they’re one step closer to doing so, while also showing that it does, indeed, exist. Some believe it is simply a form of a heart attack that aborts itself early and therefore doesn’t leave any permanent heart muscle damage. At the same time, he believes further studies will prove it’s the latter option.

Zoo with Taty and I

Tatyanah and I decided to go to the Zoo today! We have a small zoo here and we thought it owuld be a nice afternoon! It was fabulous, there was not a lot of people so we were able to take our time and really watch the animals, it was also feeding time for them so they were super active!

This is the baby monkey a few months old sucking his thumb, his mama did not want him and he is so sweet!



Couple of lose animals!

Tatyanah checking out the Arctic wolf's teeth!

another lose animal

sweet little seals

me and my little monkey

oops

Here the sweetest seal played so happily, they set up a bubble machine and he did not like it too much but he loved his trainers and the salmon popsicle! His name is Nautical.

Arctic wolf, so happy, the trainer walk them an hour a day and play with them a lot!

The elephant on her daily walk! She was so happy!

It was a wonderful afternoon and I am looking forward to going back, it is a small zoo but I learned today that a lot of animals come here as seniors to be happy and calm. Some babies come too!